What If A TWD Tale
by Yelle Hughes
Summary: Rick Grimes wakes from a coma to discover his wife and his best friend's betrayal. A twisted tale of what-ifs and decisions Rick makes at the beginning of the apocalypse and how he meets HER. Richonne centric with side ships and the TF. I do not own the characters, just a writing fan. AU Walkers.
1. The Farm

**A/N: Thank you all for coming. I've been thinking about this for a while and wasn't sure if I could put it down. I tried and I hope you stick with me through this different yet still the world of TWD. Sort of a slow burn, Richonne has to get to know each other first. Includes all of the TF and no one dies… at least no one of importance.**

**The setting starts at the farm in season 2 and is twisted straight to hell from there.**

**For those who've read my other stories, y'all know what's comin'.**

**Hope you enjoy!**

**Ps: VO is on hold for now. I'm sorry, I lost my way.**

**What If… A TWD Tale**

**Chapter 1**

**The Farm**

"I'm pregnant."

As she spoke those dreaded words, Lori kept her gaze on her boots that were a size too big. Rick kicked at small clumps of dirt and grass as he stepped away, flinging the morning-after pill packet away from him in disgust.

With all the crap that been happening, the world dying, he and his newfound family constantly running and fighting for their lives, she had to go and pull this shit. Not that it was her fault getting pregnant (that takes two) but it's the lies that had him pissed off.

Biting the inside of his cheek, he rushed back over to where she was standing. "Now? You had to do this now? Why didn't you say somethin' before?"

Lori held up her hands while backing up in fear against the thread-bare wooden fences in need of mending, yet no one had the time to mend, "I couldn't tell you. I was scared."

Biting his lip and running a hand through his ever-growing hair, "Scared of what? Why are you acting like I'm gonna hit you? I've never raised a hand to you in all the years I've known you. With all we've been through, you should be one of the baddest bitches there is. You of all people shouldn't be scared of shit… _talk_!"

Using a shaky hand to push her long dark hair behind an ear, Lori tried again to keep from fessing up, "I was afraid of how you'd react."

All the while they were arguing, Rick kept a vigilant eye out for any stray walkers that might make an appearance near the farm. He'd only caught the end of her sentence when his mind strayed back to when this shit show began:

_When he woke up alone in the hospital, he made his way to his house and immediately noticed a couple of things before going on the search for his family. He had his suspicions, but his mission to find them was more important. He'd deal with whatever… after. Once Rick found his family, he didn't have time to deal with what he discovered. There was only time to escape from the camp, the CDC and find someplace where they could be safe. _

_Then his boy was shot._

That was another incident that held back this talk. Now that Carl was on the mend, they had a safe roof over their heads and enough food to fill their bellies, he was ready to get it over with and wasn't going to wait for Lori to confess.

"Oh, I know why you're afraid. You're scared I'd find out about you and Shane bein' fuck buddies. I caught on when I went straight home from the hospital."

Lori's frantic face fell blank, "What?"

Rick's temperature began to rise over the thoughts and feelings he'd held back since he first saw her when he stepped foot on that mountain camp. He couldn't forget the look of fear she had on her face when she realized that he was back… that he was still alive.

"Did you think I wouldn't figure it out? Did you thank I was that stupid?" He rubbed a hand over his lips before placing them at his waist, "When I looked for you first at home, do you know what I saw?"

Not understanding what he was talking about, she just shook her head.

"You packed clothes for you and Carl. You took photo albums, but you didn't take nothin' else."

Frustrated with how cryptic he was being, "What are you talking about? I took the things that Shane said I needed. People were dying all around us, I didn't think about getting anything else. I didn't have time. Where are you going with this, Rick?"

Sunset was approaching and the air around them was beginning cool down, "Shane told you what to pick up and you didn't have time, you say."

She huffed in frustration, "No, I didn't."

"You're sure?"

She screeched, "Yes, Rick!"

Rick bobbed his head in understanding as he bit his bottom lip, "I was in a coma for like thirty days. I don't remember much but I do remember Shane comin' to visit me. I couldn't say anythin', but I was somehow aware enough to know he was there." He pointed a finger at her, his eyebrow raised, "I don't ever remember seeing you."

Lori, in her sleeveless plaid shirt, defensively folded her wafer-thin arms across her chest and defiantly lifted her chin, "You were in a coma, Rick. Of course, you wouldn't remember seeing me there. After Carl got off from school, we visited you every day."

Nodding his head again, he began pacing around her as she leaned against the fence, "So, what did you do while Carl was in school?"

"What do you mean?"

"I didn't stutter. What. Did. You. Do. While. Carl. Was. In. School?"

Lori looked offended, "What I usually did. I cleaned the house, ran errands, visited my friends and made sure I had dinner on the table."

Ricked stopped pacing, his eyebrows rose to his hairline, "Oh, really? Then the mailman must have still been delivering the mail after you all ran from the city. Cause it was full when I got there. Can you guess what I saw when I looked at the post date?"

"Rick… I- "

"No, no… let me tell you. They were marked with the dates during the time while _I_ was in the hospital. Now how is it that you were cooking and cleaning _our_ house and yet, you never emptied the mailbox? It was right there on the porch. It's not like you had to walk down a long driveway to get it. Can you explain that to me?"

Lori kept her head down.

"That's what I thought. You know what else I saw?" He didn't even bother to wait for an answer. "My safe in the basement full of guns hadn't been opened."

She gasped, frantic, "Rick, why didn't you tell me? Carl could've…"

He waved a dismissive hand to her, "Don't you dare act like you give a fuck about Carl after telling me he's probably better off dead. As for why I didn't tell you, you didn't need to know with you being all dramatic and shit. Shane… Shane knew I had that safe. And if you had been home when the world went to shit and he came and got you… he would have gone down there, opened it up and he would've had weapons to protect you and my son. He wouldn't have just left them there untouched. But he didn't have time, did he? Instead of getting adequately armed and hightailing it out of the city, he gave in to your whining ass to go all the way across town to pick up your clothes and your photo albums. From what I was told, y'all barely made it out of there and got stuck in a traffic jam."

Lori reached her hand out to him and pleaded, "Rick, I'm sorry."

Shaking his head, he backed away from her, "Nah, you can keep it. I really don't care that you slept with Shane. I've accepted that and it's above me now. What I can't accept is how stupid you made me look when I first showed up at camp."

His anger ramped up several notches as he began to yell at her, "Everyone there knew you two were fuckin', yet no one said a got-dang thang to me. Not Carol, not Daryl… fuck!"

He pulled at his hair with both hands in frustration, "Not even you. And, you were my wife! Nope, you took me for a fuck'n idiot. I waited for y'all to say sumthin, but I got nothin'. It's only because we had to fight for our lives against the dead, I was happy my ex-wife and my son were alive. All the while you lied about fucking my best friend… my brother while I was laid up in the hospital and left for dead."

She followed him, "But Shane said you d-…."

He cut her off, "I don't give a fuck about that! I give a fuck that my ex-wife lied to me and continued to lie to me. You let me run around here lookin' foolish. I heard what Andrea said when she called you the queen-bee laying down rules for everybody but yourself. Everythang was just hunky dory for you. You had the husband, the son… now a baby and a boyfriend."

Lori continued to chase after him, "Rick, Andrea is insane."

"Yeah? And so are you. I'm done!"

She sniffed, "Rick, that's not fair. Why do you keep saying 'ex-wife' and 'had a husband'? I'm still here and we're still married."

Rick kept backing away. His intentions were to head back to the farmhouse. He was done talkin'. "You are no longer my wife. It's the apocalypse and there aren't any rules anymore. No courts, no justices. I am divorcing you because I said so." He pulled off his ring and threw it at her.

She stopped in her tracks, shocked. "Rick, you can't do that. What about our baby?"

"Doesn't matter anymore. I will help watch over you and the baby. I'll teach you how to protect yourself and that baby, but my son will be my first priority. You killed whatever feelings I had left for you. If you want more than that, then I'm afraid you're gonna have to go to Shane for it, cause I got nothin' for ya."

He turned around and made his way to walk up the porch steps of Hershel's farmhouse. Shane came walking out the front door as Lori caught up to them.

Shane took one look at Rick's face and Lori's frantic crying and he knew.

He dropped the apple he was eating. He rubbed the back of his dark, short and curly hair while tightening his full lips into a thin line, "Rick, I'm sorry. I should have told you."

"Yeah, you should've. She tell you she was pregnant?" Rick jabbed a thumb back behind him.

Shane's mouth dropped into a soundless 'O' as his look of disbelief went from Rick's stoic face to Lori's tearful one. "No, she didn't. Are you sure? She told me that she couldn't get pregnant because she got her tubes tied."

Both men turned toward Lori, who threw her hands up in the air, "Oh, great… make me the bad guy."

"But that was a lie, Lori. Why would you tell him that?"

Instead of answering the question, she burst into tears and fell to her knees.

Rick just shook his head, "Forever the actress," he said before turning back to who he thought was his best friend and his brother. "You wanna explain this to me? Not about why you fucked her, but why you… you of all people let this go on hangin' between us."

Shane grabbed a hold of his belt and rocked back and forth on his feet, blowing out what seemed like a sigh of relief.

With a voice full of sincerity and remorse, Shane let him know, "Rick, I got no excuse. I fucked up. I had no intention of sleeping with Lori before you got shot. Not once, I swear. When you were in the hospital, every night I came home from visiting you, she was there. She cleaned my house, made dinner for me, said she needed me and that she couldn't make it on her own if no one was there for her."

Tears began to form in the corner of his eyes, which he quickly rubbed away, "I'm sorry, I got caught up… I… I believed her, believed in us. That we'd be a family. When all the shit went down, I vowed to you, I would give my very last breath to protect them."

He stepped closer to Rick, "I've known you most of all my life. You know everythin' about me, who I am, what I do, and I swear to you, I didn't go into this unless I was sure. I knew I was wrong, but I was following my heart. I kept my mouth shut because Lori begged me to keep it quiet. I should've gone with my gut. I've made so many mistakes and I know there's no way I can make it up to you."

Lori's cries had hushed as she listened to Shane's quiet plea.

"I take full responsibility with my part in this. When you came back and she turned her back on me and act like everything we did meant nothing to her, I knew everythin' was over. I'm not gonna stand in between you and your wife. I don't expect you to forgive me and I wouldn't want you to. You have more people with you now that can fight and help protect everyone. So, I know you'll be fine. I'm gonna go."

Rick nodded his head in agreement.

Lori jumped up, "You can't just let him go!"

Both men turned to her in astonishment.

Andrea came running out the door after listening to the whole conversation, she hopped eagerly, "I'll go with you, Shane."

Shane turned around and scratched the curls on his head, "Uh… no. You can't shoot for shit. I'm going out there to deal with the dead and I don't have time to babysit a person that won't follow orders and thinks they can fight when they really can't. You bring drama and I ain't got time for that."

Despite this being one of the worst days of his life, Rick couldn't help let a snort slip out.

He sobered up quickly when Shane dropped a gentle hand on his friend's shoulder, "I'm so sorry, Rick. I wish I had done things differently." He walked over to his car he prepared for travel a couple of weeks back, "If I see you again, I pray you've forgiven me. I love you, bro."

With that, he opened the door and got in. Lori surged ahead, "What about me?"

Shane didn't even acknowledge her. He shut the door and gave Rick one last sad smile before starting the car and roaring off.

* * *

**_The Prison, one year later…_**

Rick, Glenn, Maggie, Hershel, Daryl, and Merle stood around the table looking at a map of their surrounding area. "There are some shopping malls further up north," Rick pointed to a spot on the map, "We haven't gone that far before but we're running out of supplies and it's getting a little bare around here."

Hershel, fiddling with his crutch adjusted his weight. "Rick, things will be better once the crops start producing. If we can find enough supplies to last until then, we'll be good. Lori and Beth have done a good job taking care of the farm."

Rick dismissed Hershel bringing up his ex-wife's name, "Good for them. I wanna take three with me, Daryl, Merle, and Oscar. The rest of you stay here and protect the prison. We'll follow this route," his finger trailed along the small red line on the page, "and if we have to take a detour, we'll go this way." He pointed to another line on the map.

Daryl spoke up, "We can take the truck in case we find a good haul."

Rick stepped back, his fingers tapping on his Colt, "Yeah… that's the plan."

Rick, Oscar, Daryl, and Merle had reached their destination and found a megastore hidden behind a set of hills and trees. Luckily, it had been untouched by looters. With a wealth of supplies readily available they decided they would leave their own truck, since they had other smaller cars at the prison, and each person could drive one of the eighteen-wheeler trucks abandoned in the warehouse parking lot in the back, giving them more room to haul provisions back home. The store had its own fueling station and had plenty of diesel to fill the gas tanks.

After using one of the forklifts that still worked, they all gathered together to go over their planned route back to base. Everything was going according to plan. They were fortunate not to have run into that many walkers. At least not any more than they could handle.

Rick felt the hair stand up on the back of his neck as he looked up from the map, "Where's Merle?"

Daryl didn't bother to take his eyes off their designated route, "He said he was goin' back into the liquor department and pick up some stuff.

Oscar chimed in, "That's all the way over on the other side of the store. Since there wasn't anything vital we needed from over there, we didn't clear it."

Moaning and growls in the background became louder, Rick dropped the map, "Shit!" He pulled out his gun and ran around the side and towards the front. Sure enough, Merle was pushing a cart full of liquor bottles, trying to get away from a bunch of the dead steadily pouring out of the building.

When the world went to hell, the customers and workers must have tried to hide in that part store.

Each man pulled their weapon and began knocking skulls. What they didn't realize is that another large group of walkers passing by heard the shots and yelling, had begun making their way toward the noise.

Rick, Oscar, Daryl, and Merle were eventually surrounded.

They had been fighting the dead for over a year and each man had become an expert at killing but no amount of expertise would help if hundreds began attacking at the same time.

Rick saw the numbers and his heart sank. He didn't think he was going to get out of this one. His first thoughts went to how his son would survive. Then, to whatever happened to Shane after his self-exile. Where was he? Is he still alive?

After everything Rick had gone through, after everything he'd done, he wished that he had a chance to speak to Shane once again.

Yeah, he was mad how everything went down and yeah, Shane fucked up by fucking his wife, but after constantly fighting, all he wanted was to have his brother back by his side.

Everyone continued to fight with all their might. Even Merle abandoned his alcohol to keep the dead from getting too close to his brother.

It was beginning to look like the end when suddenly gunshots and the metallic sound of metal swishing through the air could be heard. There were too many walkers around Rick for him to see, so he kept fighting and praying that whoever was doing the shooting wasn't trying to kill him and his people. He had run out of bullets a bit ago so now he wielded his red machete and was ramming it through skulls one by one and kicking walkers away from him, trying not to get bit or scratched.

More gunshots could be heard, and Rick noticed that the herd was beginning to thin out. Bodies were piling up on the ground as space began to open up for him and his boys. Able to take a breath and rest a little longer between strikes, he squinted and saw a group of people fighting the dead and clearing them out.

One man wearing sunglasses was holding a shotgun and his stance looked awfully familiar.

There were five other people that fought alongside him.

Two men, two women. One of the females had a sword... and was that a child?

Rick cut down a dead woman who tried to bite into his shoulder before watching the amazing and incredible display before him. The little boy stuck close to the female but far enough to stay out of the way of her katana. He held two daggers in his little hands, that looked too big for him. Yet, the little tike kept an experienced hold on their handles. Light brown in skin tone, his hair textured tight and curly. He darted around the legs of the walkers and sliced the back of their ankles, causing them the crash onto the ground. This allowed the woman, maybe his mother, to double back and stab them quickly in the head or if she was too busy, he took care of it.

For one so young, he had a fierce look to his countenance. Rick guessed he was around six or seven years old. Too young to have to deal with death and killing. However, he couldn't deny what he was seeing. This little boy was knocking down and dispatching walkers like he was born to it.

As he continued to fight, Rick kept an eye out on the pair between swings.

The walkers began to dwindle, giving the groups a chance to approach each other.

Daryl, Merle, and Oscar killed off the remaining walkers as Rick stepped cautiously toward the experienced group. Rick couldn't take his eyes off them until someone else caught in his peripheral.

It was as if time slowed down. He almost tripped over his boots as he drew closer. He could make out the features of the woman holding the sword as she and her always-near little boy, walked past him. Her skin of golden umber radiated under the warm rays of the sun. Sweat from her exertions glistened along her neck and arms giving her a fiery glow. Her shoulder-length hair was styled with coiled locs, held back from her forehead with a red headband.

His gaze traveled from her kick-ass black boots to her tight, low-waisted dark jeans, on up past muscular abs and arms revealed by her short-cropped, sleeveless leather vest and a tank top. Her beautiful doe-ish brown eyes widened in surprise when their gazes finally met. Her lush heart-shaped lips opened slightly to draw in a small gasp, grabbing Rick's attention on how full they were.

Rick unconsciously raised his hand and laid it across his heart as he walked by.

It was only until a familiar voice quietly said his name is when Rick reluctantly pulled his attention away from the intriguing woman and her child to the man he hadn't seen or spoken to in over a year.

Though his hair was longer, curlier and hung past his ears and his face sported a full beard, Rick could never mistake the man he'd known since kindergarten. The man who when they were thirteen, held him as he cried on his shoulder when his mother died. The man who stayed with him through his mother's funeral and came to his house every day for months to comfort him because his grief-stricken father refused to talk to his own son. The man who he told all his secrets to and his fears and the man who betrayed him…

Shane.

He held out his hand in peace, "Shane. It's good to see you again."

**A/N: I got my fingers crossed that you all enjoyed and please leave a comment and let me know what you think about this. In the next chapter, we'll find out where Shane's been and how he ended up with Michonne and who their other companions are.**


	2. Reconciliation

**A/N: I am so humbled and so appreciative of all your comments on here, Tumblr and Twitter. Thank you all so much and y'all are cracking me up with your thoughts on going into the past of TWD and the what ifs?**

**Without giving out a spoiler: I WOULD NEVER DO THAT**

**I've always wondered what would have happened if Shane had left before he spiraled down to crazy town. **

**Some characters may be pulled from future seasons but most of them consist of characters from Season One, Two, Three, and Four. And you'll be reading from different POV's.**

**Again, everybody lives, I don't play with ****_'death by walker'_**** unless I hate them or don't know what else to do with them. Rick learns more about this badass woman with the sword, the little boy, and what's their story.**

**Hope y'all enjoy and please don't forget to comment and let me know if you like or dislike.**

**Chapter 2**

**Reconciliation**

Shane reached out a cautious hand and took a firm hold of Ricks'. The rest of his group gathered around them as Merle, Oscar, and Daryl stood behind their leader. The Dixon brothers were the only ones to recognize Rick's old friend from the farm. They didn't know who the others were.

Rick wasn't sure how to start, so he let go of Shane's grip and hooked his machete back onto his belt. Without a hint of how he felt, he told him, "Thank you for coming to our rescue. I didn't thank we were gonna make it outta there."

He turned around and waved toward his group, "You know Daryl and Merle. You should remember them. And, this is Oscar. Oscar, this is Shane Walsh. He was with us before we met you at the prison."

Bringing up Shane's leaving made Rick remember his resolve, "I didn't thank I'd ever see you again. How did you get here? Who are your friends?"

He looked directly at the woman with the sword.

Rick was unable to read how Shane was taking this reunion since he hid behind his sunglasses and he hadn't said anything besides calling out his name. While there was an awkward silence between the two men, he was distracted by two other people coming out of hiding behind the trees that surrounded the store.

A tall, dark male who looked to be in his mid-thirties and a young boy about the same age as Carl. The rest of Shane's group kept an eye out for any other walkers while they spoke.

Rick couldn't help but let his focus continuously stray back to the woman with the sword and the little boy who had put away his knives and now hung onto her leg, watching him with big warm hazel eyes. Rick's own bright blues twinkled as he gave him a huge grin and a wink before turning back to Shane.

Shane still showed no emotion but when he pulled off his glasses, Rick saw everything he needed to see. There was joy, a hint of fear and surprised relief in his former best friend's damp, brown eyes, "Rick… I found you." His voice deepened when he asked, "How's _everyone_?"

* * *

Rick looked way different from the last time he saw him. He sported a full beard with a few strands of grey throughout. His dark brown hair had grown longer in the back, past his collar. Before everything went to shit, Rick always maintained the clean-cut choir boy look. Now, his face had hardened, there were crinkles along the corners of his eyes. He was leaner, more cut. The one thing that stayed the same, those clear blue eyes of his.

Another thing that changed… when he saw Rick fighting the dead.

The man was brutal.

Rick was a good fighter before, but he handled his fights by the book and was gentlemen-like. Now, he looked like he could really fuck some shit up. His buddy looked like he had gone through hell over the past year. Shane sure was happy to see him alive and still kicking ass.

But first things first.

He needed to know how Rick felt about seeing him again.

He didn't have to wait long. As soon as he took off his glasses and Rick could see the entirety of his face, Rick pulled him into a bear hug.

The rest of Shane's group released a sigh of relief, not sure what was going to come out of their tense meeting. Seeing that everything was cool, they all waited patiently for their reunion to conclude, while keeping a sharp eye out for any other dangers.

Rick pulled back, slapping a hand on Shane's shoulder and wiping his own tear that ran down his cheek. "We've lost three people since the farm, Shane. _Everyone_ else is with us."

The mysterious woman quirked her head to the side with curiosity as she watched them closely.

Shane remembered Rick's question, "Our truck broke down about an hour away from here and heard the shots from the road after we spotted a building through the trees."

He turned to the people that were with him, "And, these are the folks that I've been with not long after I left the farm. My car ran out of gas. I started walking back toward the city when I ran into them. They saved me." He pointed to the woman Rick was most interested in. "This is Michonne Buchont and her son, Andre."

Michonne just gave Rick an intense stare as she smiled briefly at him. Andre waved from his spot by her leg and smiled. That's when Rick saw he was missing his two front teeth.

Rick fell in love with the little tike right then and there as he waved back.

Rick thought to himself, _"Buchont? Where have I heard that name before."_

He was distracted from his thoughts as Shane went on to introduce the other woman standing next to Michonne when the tall man who walked out of the woods with the young boy interrupted. "He's _our_ son, Andre."

Those few words got Rick heated. _'Who the fuck is this prick?'_

Shane rolled his eyes as did Michonne, "Were you standing here when I was talkin'? No? Then shut the fuck up."

Michonne chided him, "Shane…"

"Sorry, Michonne. Dre, don't you go repeating what Uncle Shane says, okay?"

His anger dissipating, Rick watched it all, fascinated.

"Anyhoo, that a-" he looked back at Michonne, "that man who so rudely interrupted me, is Mike Anthony. Andre's _father."_ When he turned back to Rick, he mumbled low, "And a useless piece of shit."

A few chuckles could be heard amongst his group.

"Shane!"

"Sorry, Michonne. I'll behave." Shane turned toward the other woman by his side. Her skin was a lighter tone than Michonne's.

Rick found her just as beautiful, yet, she didn't grab his attention or make his chest flutter like Michonne did.

"And, this here gorgeous woman and one the best snipers I've ever known is my girl, Sasha." He grinned brightly and had to bend down low to reach and kiss Sasha on the temple.

"She's the only one that knows how to get in my ass when I stray too far or want to quit. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her. For all of them." He waved toward his group.

Sasha rolled her eyes and pushed him off, "It's nice to meet you, Rick. Shane's told me all about you. I'm glad to finally meet you." She held out her palm for him to take.

Rick leaned forward, nodding his acknowledgment.

Shane continued his introductions by gesturing toward a huge man shaped like a linebacker, "This here is Sasha's brother, Tyreese."

Each person that wasn't Michonne only got a brief handshake and a polite hello from Rick but when Shane went to introduce the other man that fought alongside him, he clamored in surprise, "Morgan?"

The man he met right after he left the hospital and the one who explained what happened and how to kill the walkers stood there holding a walking stick. He took a closer look at the young man that walked out of the woods with Mike and recognized an older and skinnier Duane. "You're both alive!"

Morgan put down his battle stick and rushed to Rick, giving him a brotherly hug. Duane stepped up to him, "It's good to see you again, sir."

Rick placed a hand on the back of the young boy's neck and pulled him in tightly, "Still so polite, I see."

* * *

Morgan couldn't believe it. The sheriff deputy survived. He wasn't sure if he would make it this long after they departed. He wondered if he found his wife and son. If it hadn't been for Rick and his sage advice, he wouldn't have been able to get past taking care of his wife, Jenny, and leave Kings County.

He was equally surprised that Rick knew Shane. And, that the man Shane always spoke so highly of during their travels was the same man that saved him.

When he met Shane; he, the Williams siblings, Michonne and her family had just escaped their military camp that had been overrun. Shane was walking alone along the road. No car, no weapons… he hadn't eaten food nor drank any water for several days. If they hadn't have come along, Shane would have let the walkers have him.

They spotted him walking up ahead on the road, stumbling and not paying attention to his surroundings. Several walkers were heading his way. He didn't attempt to run or to fight. He simply collapsed to his knees on the roadside.

It was Michonne who made the call to help him. She told Mike to stay out of the way and asked if he and Duane would keep an eye on Andre before running ahead with Sasha and Tyreese to get rid of the dead. They made camp in that area and Sasha took it upon herself to nurse Shane back to health.

He was despondent and angry at all of them for saving him. He didn't ask them to save him. He wasn't worth it.

That's when Sasha stood tall in all her five-foot five-inch height, slapped him silly and told him, _"No personal problems are ever worth more than your life. You will live, Shane. Even if I have to beat you to do it."_ That woke Shane right up and opened his eyes to new possibilities.

They only had few supplies to spare, but it didn't stop her from giving it to Shane. The only person to complain about sharing was Mike and everyone in the group just told him to shut up.

Including Michonne.

Morgan wasn't clear what was going on with their unusual relationship. All he knew was that Michonne was Andre's mother and Mike, the father. She mostly ignored him while she trained and took care of her son. From what he could get from Andre, there was a friend named Terry that was with them at the beginning, but something happened. From what he gathered, Mike and Terry were involved. Terry was killed and Michonne never forgave Mike.

Through the several months they traveled together, everyone in the group learned Shane's story. How he thought he was in love with his best friend's wife. The fallout and his leaving the only people he'd ever cared about during the apocalypse. How he thought he could survive out there on his own and when he found out he couldn't live with the guilt he was going to let whatever happened, happen.

Sasha helped him open his eyes that all life was precious. Even his.

* * *

After introductions were finished, Rick had an idea. Even if everything with Shane hadn't been resolved yet, meeting Michonne, her son, reuniting with Morgan and these people, he had no qualms with what he was about to do.

He will keep a sharp eye on that Mike, though.

"Where are y'all headed? If you don't have a secure place to stay, you can come back with us. We have more than enough room. It's protected by fences and concrete walls and we could use more fighters."

Merle and Daryl began to protest. He hushed them. "I know Shane and I know Morgan and I trust my gut that his people are our people," he took a quick peek at Michonne when he said that, "They saved his life when they didn't have to and they saved ours. That's enough for me." He shyly looked at Michonne again lifting one side of his mouth in a brief smile.

Michonne shook her head briefly and looked pleased.

* * *

Shane walked a little way away from Rick and his men to confer with Michonne, Morgan, Tyreese, and Sasha. "What do y'all think? It'll get the kids off the road and stability. You all know my story; Rick's a good guy. I mean a cookie cutter good guy. I'm the one that hurt him and he's inviting me back to his home where his family lives. From the looks of him, he hasn't changed much, except for his burly, I'm-gonna-kick-your-ass face."

Sasha laughed and rubbed his shoulder. She looked over to her brother and he gave her an affirmative. "I'm good and so is Tyrese."

Morgan agreed, "I met Rick when this all started. He was a good man looking for his family. When we parted, he left me and Duane better weapons to protect ourselves. He also gave me the strength to do what I had to do. I owe him for that."

Mike spoke up, "Well, I don't trust him."

Shane, Morgan and Tyrese spoke at the same time, "We don't care, Mike."

Shane shook his head and turned to Michonne, "Michonne. This has to be agreed on by everyone, except Mike."

Mike huffed away grumbling, "I'm tired of everyone disrespecting me."

Shane was about to open his mouth and give Mike the whatfor but remembered that little Andre listened to everything they said, "Forget it… Michonne? We're not going without you."

Michonne placed a hand on her boy's shoulder and hugged him closer. "I can tell he's trustworthy, not like that Phillip and Andrea at Woodbury. You've told me so much about him, I don't see much that's changed." She leaned down to Andre, "Peanut, do me a favor and go with Auntie Sasha and clean your knives. I need to talk to Shane about some adult grown-up stuff."

"Okay, mommy." He then ran off to do what he was told.

Mike protested again, "He's too young for that. I'll clean them for him."

Michonne's next words and tone caught everyone's attention, especially Rick's. "You don't touch him! You don't touch his weapons. He knows how to do it and he doesn't need your help."

"Michonne, he's my son, too!"

Her hand sliced through the air as she cut him to the quick, "No! He's mine. You gave up the right to call him that."

Rick's eyebrow rose in deep curiosity, _"What happened that this woman wouldn't allow her child's father anywhere near him?"_

He half paid attention to Daryl and Merle discussing their trip back. He kept a watchful eye on Michonne speaking with Shane quietly. Sasha sat down on the ground with little Andre and he, sure enough, knew how to clean and sharpen his own knives with a rag and a sharpening stone.

Mike only huffed and went and sat down by one of the empty trucks, looking defiant but didn't care enough to do anything about it.

* * *

"Shane, you know I have no problem going back with your friend, Rick and his place. I'm more worried about you. From what Rick said, she's there. What about the baby? You said you left without knowing if you were the father or Rick was. Have you thought about that?"

He shook his head, "It doesn't matter if she's there or not. I'm not emotionally invested in Lori anymore. I'm with Sasha now and nothing will get in between us. I'm grateful the baby is still alive and it ain't gonna be easy cause I left all of them."

Michonne gave him her usual lecture, "I told you before, you had no choice. In a situation like that, you would have continued to fight each other until one of you was dead. It's been over a year and because you're not dead, you have a chance to make amends. Sasha wouldn't have been able to convince you to come back this way to find answers if this wasn't something that was bothering you. We all support you in this."

Humbled, Shane dropped his head, "You sure you aren't my sister? Cause that was some sisterly advice."

Michonne laughed. It was something he's said to her ever since she convinced him was worthy to ask Sasha to date him.

Shane ran a hand through his thick hair, "You're right. I'll talk with Rick about it and I'll see if they'll let me help. If not, I'll be fine with it. If Lori and Rick are back together, then that's fine too. Has nothing to do with me and I can keep out of their way."

Michonne watched Rick speak with his men for a minute, "I don't think they're together."

Shane turned to look at Rick, "How do you know?"

Michonne's gaze traveled from his ringless hand to the curls at the back of his nape. "It's just a feeling I have."

He said her name with suspicion, "Michonne… "

"What? He's bowlegged," she chuckled with a shrug.

* * *

Impatient to get moving, Rick went over to Shane, "Has everyone agreed? I want to start heading back before it gets too late. We were only going to take the trucks and leave the SUV. Since yours is busted, you can drive it back."

Michonne asked, "Are there more supplies in there that we could use?"

Swiftly, Rick turned all his attention to her, "We only worked on getting all the essentials out first. If you want, we can grab another truck and get some more stuff. Better to get it now before someone else finds this place and takes the rest of it. There's plenty of canned and dry goods, clothes, and blankets left. There are also beds in there."

Michonne's one eyebrow rose and everyone else's nosy ears perked up when Rick began talking to her about beds, even Mike.

Daryl asked, "Well, which one of y'all can drive an 18-wheeler?"

Michonne raised a hand and answered, "I can."

Shane and Sasha snickered while Rick couldn't stop his smile even if he wanted to.

"Alright, people let's get ta movin' and load up this last truck. I'll make sure it's up and runnin' by the time you get it filled up." Daryl circled his hand above his head to get everyone going and Rick gestured for Michonne to lead the way.

Michonne called for Andre to follow her and told everyone she was getting clothing for all the kids. Andre stood up and sheathed his knives and ran after his mother.

On his way in, Rick asked Shane, "You mind keeping an eye on the front and watch for walkers? Oscar can take watch with you and everyone one else can come with me to gather more supplies."

"That's cool, Rick. I'll keep Sasha out here with me. She can get up on one of the trucks and keep a lookout, so I can pull the truck you gave us around and put the supplies we were carrying with us inside.

Rick gave a nod to Daryl, who then tossed Shane the keys.

Morgan and Duane followed the rest into the store.

When everyone was present near the entrance, Rick automatically took charge and told them what section to pull goods from.

Remembering what happened earlier, Rick warned Merle, "Get the booze, Merle but if there's a closed door back there, make sure you clear it first."

Rick then trailed after Michonne and Andre as she grabbed a cart and immediately head for the boys' section. She started grabbing shorts, t-shirts, underwear, and socks in sizes that would fit Duane and Andre.

Andre stayed by her side while he also kept a lookout for any danger.

Rick couldn't believe how mature the little man was one minute, the next, he's hanging adorably on his mom's leg.

While she piled up on clothes, she asked Rick as he stood behind her marveling at her son, "Shane told me you had a little boy. Carl, right? How old is he now? Any baby boys?"

Rick cleared his throat. '_How much did Michonne know about him?'_

"Yeah, he's ten now and no, no baby boys."

"Okay." She didn't say anything else and began to grab clothes that were a little bigger. After she was satisfied with her haul, she went to the little girl's section, "Do you have any girls besides Sophia and the baby?"

Rick blinked in shock, _'What the hell did Shane tell her and how could she remember Sophia's name?'_ "Uhm… no, it's just Judith and Sophia and she's the same age as Carl."

"Alright." She began grabbing baby clothes, dried powdered milk, and baby dry goods, diapers, and other non-essentials.

Rick couldn't help but notice how the muscles along her arms bunched up and stretched each time she moved and how her jeans clung to her full and sumptuous ass. He'd never been that close to a woman whose booty looked so firm and so fine that he had to fight the strong impulse to touch it.

_'I'm a thirty-seven-year-old man. I'm not in high school,'_ he chided himself.

After she cleared the baby section, she went looking for clothes that would fit Carol's daughter. When she was done, she turned to Rick with a smirk, "Do you wanna show me those beds you were talking about Rick?"

An inappropriate thought crossed his mind, _'King or Queen size?'_

He gave his head a little shake, clearing his throat when he asked, "Uhm… don't you want to take these and put them in the truck?"

Michonne gave him a knowing smile, "Nope. Don't want to waste any more time. We can pick up some sheets and wrap everything up and carry them out on whatever mattress _we_ pick out. Sound like a plan?"

"Uh… yeah. Sounds perfect."

Michonne gave him a 100-megawatt smile, "Great." She ran a hand through Andre's curls. "Let's go to the bathroom section, sweetie and then mommy will get you a bed."

"Okay, mommy." He reached up and grabbed Rick's hand, "You comin'?"

Rick squeezed the little boy's hand gently, "I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."

**A/N: Thanks again for reading! Hope you enjoyed and please let me know what you think of Rick and Michonne's introduction, along with everyone else. And, I'm sorry for those that are tired of my SaShane ship. Once I put them in my mind, I can't unsee it, lol.**


	3. No Games

**A/N: Thank you all for the reviews and comments. I truly appreciate it. Now, we're back. The gang has reached their destination and returned to the prison. Who's gonna act up?**

**P.S. That Season 10 trailer :(**

**I hope this chapter brings up your spirits cause in the fanfic world, Michonne is treated with respect.**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 3**

**No Games**

Carol Peletier, her daughter Sophia, Beth Greene holding Judith, and Axel cheered by the fence as Glenn Rhee, Maggie Greene and Noah Woods pulled the gates open. T-Dogg and the rest were on watch duty.

The widower, Hershel Greene, standing next to Carl and Lori, became puzzled when five, 18-wheeler trucks came rolling through the gates, followed by their SUV.

Only four men went on the scavenging run. Who's that coming back with Rick?

There wasn't enough room for all the semi-trailers, so they had to park in the large prison yard, away from the garden. Hershel saw Rick jump out first, then make his way over to passenger side of another truck.

When Carl spotted him, he pulled away from his mother's grip to go greet his dad and the newcomers.

Lori yelled out, "Carl, be careful!"

Carl threw a hand back at her, "We're inside the gates. There's no walkers in here, mom," as he continued down the drive to reach his father.

Hershel observed a rarely smiling Rick reaching into the cabin and was surprised to see him help a little boy get down. There were a few folks he didn't know but he immediately recognized Shane. He gave a side-eye to Lori beside him who grew paler as she placed a hand over her shocked mouth.

Hershel knew the peace they had obtained over the past few months was going to be shot to shit.

Not up for it today or any other day for that matter, he hobbled away from Lori to go stand by Beth and the baby. As he counted his fellow survivors and newcomers descend from the trucks then gather around, his thoughts focused on their de-facto leader, Rick Grimes.

* * *

_When they first stumbled onto his farm after Carl had been shot by his ranch hand Otis, Rick told him that before he and his people came to his land, they had escaped from their mountainside camp and sought shelter at the Center for Disease Control Center. The man running it explained why people were dying and coming back to life. One of Rick's fellow survivors, Jacqui Buchont, planned to stay and commit suicide along with Dr. Jenson. At the last second, she decided to leave the CDC with Andrea and Dale instead of blowing up in a fiery death._

_She and Hershel became Rick's sounding board when he needed advice._

_Back then, he knew there was tension between Lori, Rick, and Shane. Wasn't clear what it was until Shane left the farm for good. Rick pulled everyone into a meeting and told them his plans. _

_He no longer wished to be married to Lori. He was taking back the name Grimes, and she would go back to her maiden name of Mayo. Rick emphatically proclaimed he had no more animosity towards Lori, and to show that he was telling the truth, he would teach her how to protect herself and her unborn child along with their son._

_He didn't approve Rick's actions at first. What man dumps his wife during these trying times and she's pregnant at that. But once he heard the truth from both Lori and Rick, he told Rick that he was a better man than him. _

_Because if she was his wife, he would have taken Lori far out into the woods and left her ass._

_Jacqui shared his same sentiment, although, she was more vocal than he. After Rick made his announcement to the group, Jacqui reached out to him and apologized because at the mountainside camp, she knew about the affair and she did try to tell Lori how she disapproved of their keeping the truth from him. However, Lori broke out in hysterics, so she left it alone. _

_At the time, she was too busy thinking about ending her own life to bother with some spoiled brat. _

_After Rick finished telling everyone what happened between him and Lori, Jacqui turned to Lori before walking out, "I always knew you was a nasty bitch and I'm glad I stayed alive to tell you that. Shane's lucky he's not here or I'd tell his ass off too, ya dumbfucks."_

_From that day forward, Rick moved his sleeping quarters into the barn, while Lori stayed in the farmhouse. To continue their survival, he, Daryl, T-Dogg, Andrea, Merle, and Randall would leave the farm to hunt for meat, scavenge for supplies and maintained the fence around Hershel's land and killed any walkers that happened to pass by._

_While Rick maintained his distance and kept his relationship with Lori civil, the same couldn't be said of Lori. If she wasn't trying to worry Rick about Carl staying in the house away from danger or complaining to Rick or anyone nearby about the dangers involved with Carl learning how to protect himself, she would get into a battle of wits with Andrea, Carol or Beth._

_The majority of the time, she lost that battle._

_Everything was going fine, his crops produced enough food to help sustain the group, until one day it all came to an end. A huge mass horde of walkers aimlessly heading south ran into his farmland, which happened to be in their path. It was fortunate that Glenn and Maggie were coming back from a run when they saw how large the group was._

_They raced back and everyone worked on a plan to force the undead to bypass the area and Rick also directed everyone to be ready to follow their backup plan of escaping the farm in case the first didn't work. _

_It didn't work._

_Before they knew it, walkers were swarming toward the farmhouse, literally trapping them from escaping._

_Unfortunately, Dale was the first casualty because he wandered beyond the fence alone and got caught._

_Rick then came up with a plan to set the barn on fire. As with everyone else that owned large plots of land and lived in the backwoods of Georgia, Hershel stocked a fair amount of firecrackers, Roman Candles, pyromantics, sparklers and cherry bombs, that were kept in a fireproof container. _

_After the world collapsed there was no holiday occasion to celebrate, so they sat for months unused._

_Rick was banking on the noise and explosions they'd make to draw away the walking dead long enough for them to escape._

_Hurrying before the dead could reach the house, Rick ignored Lori's pleas to stay inside and ran for the barn. The more experienced shooters covered Rick to keep the nearest walkers from getting their hands on him. As he was setting alight the fireworks, the rest who weren't shooting, made sure all their supplies and provisions were set to go. _

_As soon as the boom and crackling began, Rick set the hay bales on fire before he ran back outside. All the cars were already parked in position for a fast take off. _

_The evacuation was going somewhat smoothly until Otis's wife, Patricia, tried to run back into the house to retrieve something. When she ran back out, a walker who was heading for the barn, caught her. Hershel tried to save her, but it was too late, she'd been bitten in the face. To save his friend from an afterlife of endlessly walking, he used his last shotgun shell to send her home. _

_The next casualty was Otis. He was so distraught over what happened to Patricia that he gave himself to the walkers that killed his wife._

_Rick came running back. He yelled at Daryl and Merle to drive on up ahead cause the sound of their loud ass motorcycles would attract more walkers and maybe they could lure some away. _

_Hershel mostly thought it was because Rick wanted them to get as far away from him and everyone else because of the noise factor._

_Rick then snatched Carl out of the car where he was sitting beside his mother, ignored her protest, and pulled him over to the pickup truck he was taking. Rick handed him a shotgun and directed him to shoot the walkers in the head that were getting too close to their getaway vehicles. He drove ahead and around everyone so Carl could get a clear shot at his targets. _

_Hershel, devasted at the loss of Otis and Patricia, was pulled into the RV by Jacqui and Carol. Their backup plan was to meet at the highway where they first escaped from the mountain camp._

_They also lost Andrea during the chaos. No one saw her being attacked but when they all met up, she wasn't anywhere to be found._

_After a few months on the road, they discovered the prison, where they met Oscar and Axel. Hershel had lost part of his leg, but they were able to clean it out and secure it in time before Lori went into labor and had a healthy baby girl, Judith._

* * *

And now, here they were. Rick united with Shane and a new group to join their family.

Hershel gave a little prayer that this would go smoothly. He glanced over at Lori watching Rick's obvious closeness with the little boy and introducing him to Carl.

_'This is going to be a nightmare.'_

He shouted for Jacqui. When she popped her head out from the side of the building, he asked, "My headache is coming back. Do we have any of those migraine pills left?"

She yelled back, "Yes, we have a few. Want me to bring you one?"

"No thank you, dear. I'll come to you. I have a feeling it's gonna get worse." He began hobbling off to where she was located, and she helped him get to the prison infirmary.

* * *

After Rick helped Andre out the cab, he went to make sure Michonne was able to exit without any problems. On his way to walking around the front of the truck to help her down, Carl came running up. His son looked up curiously at the little boy Rick was carrying in his arms, "Hey dad, I'm glad you made it back. Who's this?"

Rick set the little boy down, clasped a hand on his son's nape and pulled him in for a hug, "Carl, this is Andre."

The youngster broke out a giant smile showcasing his missing front teeth and waved, "Hi Cawl."

His genuine happiness had Carl grinning back. "Hi!"

Michonne had stepped out of the truck and walked over to their little group. Rick gestured to her, "And, this is his mother, Michonne Buchont. She's a friend of Shane, and she's coming to stay with me… I mean, they're coming to stay with us."

Michonne's eyes cut to Rick and his slip.

He stood, "Michonne, this is my son, Carl."

She held out her hand while Andre moved to cling to her leg, "It's nice to meet you, Carl. Shane's had nothing but praise whenever he talked about you. In fact, he told me that you were a huge comics book fan. When I met your Dad, we happened to be at a store with a huge magazine section."

Surprised, both the Grimes men watched as she reached into her satchel and pulled out a stack of comic books still in their plastic wrappings. "I saw these and immediately thought of you."

Ecstatic with glee that a stranger thought about bringing him a present, Carl took the comics in hand, "Thank you so much. I love it!"

After witnessing her skills as a fighter, her tender concern for her son and those around her, and her strength of character to not let anyone bully her, Rick's admiration for this woman rose up another notch in his book.

Reluctant to leave them, he pulled himself away to go where everyone stood after they got out of their vehicles. He told Shane, "You wanna meet with everybody once we get some of these trailers emptied?"

Shane didn't see any problem with that, "Sure."

He waved to get Michonne's attention as she kneeled, talking quietly with Andre and Carl, "Michonne can you back your truck in up through those gates?"

He pointed at the gates where the rest of the prison group stood, "We'll unload the beds and all the kids' stuff you picked up. I'll pull out, while you back in."

Shane went back over to the SUV so he could move it out of the way for Michonne's truck. He paused opening the door and closed his eyes and chuckled to himself, _'I knew that if I ever saw him again and he met Michonne, he was gonna act a fool.'_

Shane put his sunglasses back on. His chiseled jaw locked firm and his thick lips set, so if someone were looking at him, they couldn't tell if he was happy, sad or mad. Hiding behind the dark lenses, he snuck a peek to see where Lori was. He honestly didn't want any problems to pop up with him being there. He'd gotten over it and didn't think he'd have any issues once he found out she was still alive.

He was partly right; he still felt a bit of hurt after all of it. And some guilt. Dropping his head down to his chest, he felt a familiar hand come and rub his shoulder, "It's okay baby. It's okay to feel it. Because you're going to have to face it. No more running. Ya, hear me? You're done running. You are home and nothing is going stand between you and your redemption."

Shane sniffed and pursed his pouty lips, "I know. It's just hard, ya know?"

Sasha pulled him down into her arms. Grasping his chin, she made him look her in the eye, "I know. I'll be right beside you. All that anger in the past… is the past. There are worst things in this world to deal with. You and Rick will move forward from here on out."

Shane wrapped and arm around her waist, "And, you'll be with me." He nodded toward Rick who went back over to talk to Michonne, Carl and Andre before she could move her truck, "I got a feeling Michonne's gonna be there, too."

Sasha barked out a laugh, "You caught that too? What's with him and the beds? I must have a dirty mind cause that pullin' out mess sounds a little freaky."

He chuckled, "You might be onto something there. Michonne said that she didn't think Rick was still with Lori."

"What makes her say that?"

Shane shrugged, "After seeing him hanging around her ever since they met, she may be right. Rick was always awkward around girls he liked when we were younger."

Sasha sobered, "That's great an all, except there's Mike and from what you told me about Lori. If she's still like that, we're looking at a whole lot a drama."

Shane reassured her, "Believe me, there will be no drama on my end. I think Michonne can handle Lori and Mike. You know how she doesn't play games when it comes to people being around her son. After I found out what happened, I still thank she should've killed him."

Sasha shook her head in agreement, "I think so too, but it's not up to us. If he gets himself killed, so be it. I wish I could at least kick his ass. Maybe just once."

"Now, now, Sasha, can't have you going around beating up people," he laughed. "Save it for the bedroom."

She smacked him lightly on the shoulder, "I see why you and Rick were best friends," and left to go find Tyreese.

* * *

Morgan and Duane had left Mike sitting in the truck. He didn't know why he was still there with these people. No one wanted him there except for his son and even he was starting to ignore him. Now they found this new group and he felt even more isolated.

Michonne needs to get over herself. Yeah, he made a mistake, but everything turned out alright. "I mean, she didn't kill me. That tells me she cares a little."

She should be grateful it was Terry who paid the price and not Andre.

Back before, when he was a successful art dealer, he had the world and Michonne eating out of the palm of his hand. He was the man. Tall, handsome and rich… though he could never convince Michonne to marry him. He wanted so badly to put a ring on her, claim the most respected and prestigious defense attorney in Atlanta.

Mike knew he wasn't built for this world. It wasn't his fault that he couldn't acclimate himself fast enough to the world ending for her liking. She should have understood that about him when they had a baby together.

He wished Terry was with him because he needed a hit and even though he'd gone through his withdrawals, he still remembered about how great it made him feel and made him forget all the crap that was going on around him.

On the bright side, there were new people and new people meant new contacts and hopefully, someone here knew how to get him a hook-up.

He won't even bother with Michonne and even Andre for that matter, the boy adapted to this world after the incident better than anyone besides his mother. Just because he didn't become a killing machine like everybody else, he might as well be invisible to his own flesh and blood. Thinking about it made him tired.

Sighing, he lay back against the headrest in the truck and decided to take a nap.

* * *

They unloaded Michonne's truck first. Next, was the trailer holding all the food. It was getting dark and everyone was tired. They decided to get the rest in the morning.

The meet and greet was a low-key fanfare because there were more important things to do. Tyrese spoke, with Glenn, Carol and Maggie, and T-Dogg while Noah, Merle, Daryl, and Morgan took over the watch.

Lori stayed up on the rafters staring down at everyone. Beth kept the baby from all the noise and distractions in another part of the prison. Mike sat in the corner, ignoring everyone as the rest chatted amongst themselves in smaller groups.

Rick stood over by Sasha and Shane while Michonne, with Andre on her lap, sat with Carl, Sophia and Duane looking over some of the comics she brought him.

Rick told them, "It's getting late. We have cellblock C cleared out and you can take your pick where you wanna sleep. Michonne and Andre can have the office up there. It has more room and she can fit their beds in there."

To keep from laughing, Shane coughed in his hand, "Sprung!"

Sasha began slapping him on the back when he started having a real coughing fit.

Rick stood there puzzled, "What?"

* * *

As the three friends chatted, Lori silently walked up behind Rick. Still confused on what was making Shane choke, Rick thought he saw a ghostly apparition in his peripheral… his hand on his gun, he jumped back and almost brought the barrel up to blast away whatever stood to the side of him without announcing themselves.

"Shit, Lori! You know better than to walk up on me like that." He put his gun away with a huff, "What do you want?"

Pulling on the bottom of her shirt, she spoke in a low voice, "I just wanted to come by and say hi to Shane and his new friend."

Sasha rubbed Shane's back with encouragement.

He cleared his throat, "Actually, she's my girlfriend. I see you're well, Lori."

Lori moved over to the side not occupied by Sasha, "It's been a long time," she reached out a hand to place it on Shane's bicep, "and I…"

Sasha's own hand intercepted Lori's before she could touch him and gave Lori a warning smile, "Hi, I'm Sasha. Shane's told me _all_ about you and now I finally get to see you in person."

Though her words were polite, Sasha's tone wasn't.

Lori gave her a tight, short grimace after pulling her hand out of Sasha's grip, her tone dismissive, "That's nice to hear. So, Shane, I'm sure your curious, would you like to see Judith?"

Sasha shook her head with a guffaw and rolled her eyes. She knew Lori was gonna make something happen and she couldn't wait for it.

Rick and Shane froze. They didn't realize the awkward situation they had been avoiding was going to come at them so soon.

Shane shook his head, "Nah, it's getting late and I've been on my feet all day and I'm tired. Can we do this in the morning?"

Unbeknownst to Rick and Lori, Sasha pinched him on his firm behind, leaned up to his ear and whispered, _"No more running."_

Shane almost jumped from the pinch and sounded shaky when he changed his mind, "Okay, that'll be fine."

Rick quickly volunteered, "I'll go have Beth bring her down." He left the cafeteria to soon walk back with Beth carrying the nearly three-month-old, Judith.

"Hi, I'm Beth, Hershel's daughter and this is baby Judith. She set down the plastic mail carton on the table so they could get a look at her. Rick ran an adoring finger over the baby's downy cheek before excusing himself and make his way over to Michonne's table with the kids.

Shane and Sasha leaned over to take a closer look at the sleeping baby, while Lori was busy trying to sneak and keep tabs on what Rick was doing.

Sasha reached in and pulled the baby blankets down to get a better look, "She's beautiful." She elbowed Shane, "Isn't she?"

Lori responded with an uncaring voice as she kept looking across the cafeteria, "Yes, she is."

The smiling blonde with the big eyes told them she would be waking Judith up soon for her feeding and would they mind doing it. An overwhelmed Shane could only nod his head.

* * *

Rick stood standing over the kids and Michonne, "I'm getting everyone's sleeping arrangements settled and I thought, for you and Andre… you can have the warden's office. It's close to everyone but far enough away to give you some privacy."

Michonne looked up and gave him her beautiful, bright smile. She also noticed he didn't mention anything about where Mike was sleeping. "Thanks, Rick. We'd like that."

Relieved she didn't' call him out on saying anything about Andre's father and his assumption that they are not sleeping together, Rick grinned even harder, "You would? How about this, you all seem like you're having a lot of fun, I'll go and set it up for you while you hang with the kids." He started to leave, "Carl, you be nice for Ms. Michonne, ya hear."

Carl looked up from his book, "Sure, Dad. I will."

They went back to reading until Lori plopped down across from Michonne and Andre. She was helping him draw in a coloring book with the crayons Michonne found in the store.

She cleared her throat before speaking, "I've been waiting to meet you properly. I'm Lori Grimes and I see you've already met _my_ son, Carl."

Carl's head snapped up towards his mother when she said that. Giving him a meaningful eye, she told them, "Kids, it's getting late and you should be getting to bed. You all have chores tomorrow."

Sophia and Carl began to grumble.

"Mind your manners and just do what you're told," Lori replied harshly.

Michonne gave a small sigh and spoke to Duane, "Duane, your dad is on tower duty. I'm not sure if he picked out your room yet."

Carl perked up, "That's okay. He can come sleep in the empty cell by me and my dad. I'll let dad know to tell Morgan where he's sleeping, and they can pick out a permanent place tomorrow."

Michonne held up her hand to Carl, "That sounds like a plan, my man. Make sure you both see Sophia safe to her room and you all have a good night."

All three pre-teens smiled as they bid the adults goodnight while gathering their books and head for bed.

Frustrated with how smooth Michonne won over the kids on her first day and got her son and Sophia to go to bed without a fuss, she couldn't help sounding bitchy when she asked, "I was told you're here with your family. Where's your husband?"

Michonne gently lifted Andre off her lap and set him to her side as he kept drawing so she could concentrate on the woman sitting across from her. "I'm not married and if you are referring to Andre's father, his name is Mike Anthony and he has already gone to his room. You will probably meet him in the morning."

"Oh, I just assumed…"

"Michonne?"

Both women turned to Jacqui up on the rafters calling out Michonne's name.

"Aunt Jacqui!" Michonne stood and met Jacqui in the middle of the room. Both women hugging and crying, "I can't believe it. You've been here with Rick this whole time?"

The older woman pulled back, nodding, "Yes. I first met him at a refugee camp on the mountain. I tried so hard to call you when everything went down, baby girl. Who's with you?" She looked around and saw Andre and ignored Lori. "Peanut! My sweet boy!"

She ran over to hug Andre who recognized his great-aunt, "Tante J! You're here. Is Mamaw with you?" Jacqui with a sad grimace, turned to Michonne, who walked back over, "I'm sorry baby, Mamaw isn't here."

With everything the young child had been through, Andre didn't need an explanation, "I understand. She's with Papaw now."

Jacqui with tears in her eyes pulled him in for a comforting hug. She mouthed to Michonne to keep Andre from hearing _'What about Mike?'_

Her niece rolled her eyes and spoke out loud, "He's here, too."

Jacqui blurted out, "I bet he's still a useless piece of shit, isn't he?"

Whatever humor Michonne was feeling, it evaporated, "I'll tell you later after Andre goes to bed."

Lori, uncomfortable with the mini family reunion and fearful that Jacqui of all people, was related to this Michonne decided it was time for her to leave. "I'll let you two talk. Goodnight."

Both women ignored her as they continued to comfort young Andre.

She left for her cell room.

* * *

Judith, now awake, drank from her bottle and stared with warm brown eyes into the same shade as the man holding her in his arms. Sasha sitting next to him held a supporting arm around him, while Beth went about the cafeteria keeping out of the way. She knew the story, what happened between Rick, Shane, and Lori and though no one there had the capability to do a DNA test to see who's the father, one look at Shane and Judith's faces together told the truth.

Shane, with tears glistening in the corners of his eyes threatening to fall, turned to Sasha as Judith swallowed her meal and whispered, "She's mine."

* * *

Not long after her reunion with her aunt, Jacqui gave Michonne directions to the Warden's office. What she came upon had her grinning with delight. There was Rick making up her bed. He had moved desks and chairs over to one side of the room and placed a Serta, queen-sized mattress taken from the megastore and placed it on top of the thin pallets of three portable cots.

On the other side of the small but sizable room, she gasped when she saw he had put a kids red racing car bed in the corner.

She asked, "Rick, that's not any of the beds we picked out. When did you get these?"

Rick stood after he finished straightening out the wrinkles of her comforter, "I got them when you were taking extra time in the bathroom section and put them on the truck."

"You didn't have to do all that."

He waved a dismissive hand, "Nah, when I saw this," he pointed to the bed, "I'd thought to get beds for all the kids. It would make them happy and it'll help spruce up these grey walls." He stared at her for a few seconds longer than was necessary then quickly looked around the room.

"That's really sweet of you, Rick. But you didn't need to get me that big of a bed. A single would have been fine." She walked further into the room and closer to Rick.

Rick shrugged, "Yeah, I needed to because you deserve it."

A little shook from his honesty, Michonne shifted the focus in the room and gave Andre a gentle nudge toward his new bed, "Honey, look what Mr. Rick got for you."

Andre whooped in the air and gave Rick a brief hug to his legs, "Thank you, Mr. Rick," before running over to sit down and pull his shoes off. He took his knives and placed them on the floor at the head of the bed, "Mommy, can I change my clothes? These ones are dirty and don't want to mess up my new bed."

While Rick watched the joy on Andre's face, Michonne looked around the room and saw that their bags were already there, "Whe… how did you know which bags were mine?"

He shrugged, "Shane told me." He pointed to several bound sheets in the opposite corner, "I also brought in the clothes you got from the store. I divided them up and gave the rest to Carol to give out. They should see them when they go to their rooms."

He hesitantly asked, "I guess, I'll see you in the mornin'? I'll show you around and get you acquainted with the place and go over what position you want."

"Position?"

Realizing she could take his wording the wrong way, he smirked, "I meant a job."

Lifting her chin, her eyelids lowered and looking down her nose, Michonne said softly, "Oh… right. That's what you meant."

**A/N: Thank you all so much for sticking with me. Please let me know in the comments your thoughts. Good? Bad? Meh? darknessstartstorise, is it working? Am I pushing you over to the S side?**

**See you next week!**


	4. Mike Anthony

**A/N:** **Thank you all so much for commenting on the last chapter. It's really encouraging and I'm so thankful for all your words. I hope you all don't mind. This question had been asked so I thought I'd dedicate a chunk of this week's installment to answer why Mike is on the outs with Michonne. And everyone else.**

**I'd like to give a big THANK YOU to _thewinterscorpian_ for all your help with this one. Y'all should check out her stories. They're really good.**

**It's a little dark so fair warning. **

**Chapter 4**

**Mike Anthony**

**_When the world died…_**

_Michonne, her son Andre, the boyfriend Mike and his best friend Terry, barely escaped from Atlanta because Mike insisted they drive over the few blocks to his friend's home. He was on the phone with Terry after they got the news the city was being evacuated and that the dead were coming back to life and eating the living. _

_Michonne nearly crashed through the fence as she drove right up to Terry's front porch. Walking corpses were everywhere. Mike screamed out the window for his friend to get in the car. A frantic Michonne looked behind her to make sure Andre was still strapped in his car seat and kept an eye on the bodies slowly walking closer to their location. _

_"If he doesn't come out here in two minutes, we're leaving," she fearfully muttered._

_Terry came crashing out of his house carrying an orange backpack and flew into the backseat. Michonne was backing out of the yard when Mike yelled at him, "Did you bring them?"_

_Terry, panicked, hollered back, "What the fuck you think?"_

_Michonne wasn't paying too much attention to their conversation as she concentrated on navigating and speeding through the streets of Atlanta, trying to avoid hitting the dead that stood in her way. She wasn't worried about damaging her E-Class Mercedes Benz, she was concerned with bodies getting stuck in the wheels and trapping them on the street._

_Between Andre crying in the back and Mike screaming at her which way to turn and Terry being the most annoying backseat driver, Michonne tried her best to keep her composure. It was only when they were almost free of the city when Mike reached over and grabbed the wheel, "Watch out!"_

_The car careened away from the heavyset walker crossing the middle of the street, straight into a corner storefront and right through the display window. Time and sound seemed to slow as Michonne's head lifted from the steering wheel and side door airbags. As she tried to get her bearings, her thankfulness didn't last when she heard the moans and growling moving closer. _

_She immediately scrambled around to rip Andre out of his constraints and while scared, she had a clear understanding that she needed to get herself and her son the fuck up outta that car and get away as far as possible._

_Her driver's side door was partially blocked by the shop's brick wall, so with Andre in her arms, she looked through the rear windshield and saw them coming. Michonne screamed at Mike to get out on his side. When he didn't move fast enough, she kicked him in the ass as he was opening his door, pushing him out on the ground, as she was nearly missed by a walker trying to grab her through her broken driver side window. Andre continued to cry as she stepped over her boyfriend._

_Terry with his backpack, came up behind them to help Mike get up and pushed past Michonne as she weaved her way around glass countertops. _

_Sitting on an onyx lacquered stand, she spotted a katana with a black handle covered in a white leather wrap. It had a Celtic symbol on its pommel. Holding onto Andre with her left, she grabbed the sword with her right._

_The eerie feeling of something was close and instinctively, with a tight grip on the handle, she swung in a circle, the blade slicing through the air and through the soft, mushy skull of a mangled dead female. She was the only one to make it through the hole the car made in the store's front entrance. Her skin had been flayed by the jagged glass and metal, but she was still able to stand and stalk toward Michonne and Andre._

_After she cut off the top of her head, the body dropped to the ground, her movements stopped. Michonne learned that the only way to kill them was to go for the head. _

_More were trying to scramble through the broken window. _

_Getting a tighter grip on Andre, she propped the sword against the counter and swiftly grabbed the matching wooden scabbard that was still placed on the stand. She threw the strap over her shoulder and picked up her sword again and ran to the back of the martial arts shop, to catch up with Mike and Terry._

* * *

**_Three months after the world died…_**

_"Mike, I really need you and Terry to get it together and take this seriously. I can't do this on my own. Your son needs you… I need you," Michonne pleaded after pulling him away from their tent so they could talk in private. _

_He brushed off her misgivings per usual, "Michonne, you worry too fucking much. We got a whole army protecting us behind the fences. You said you need me? That's a first because you sure don't act like it, Ms. Black Samurai," he sneered sarcastically, "you think you top shit now, don't you? Before, you used to dress like a lady. Now, you run around here with half your skin showing. I used to be the man of this household. I guess that title belongs to you since you're wearing the pants." _

_Frustrated Mike wouldn't listen to anything she was saying, her rage boiled, and her lips trembled when she grabbed him by the collar to get him to focus on only her, "I don't think I'm top anything. I'm just asking you to put on your big boy pants, stop getting fucked up and face reality. The world we knew… is gone! Doesn't matter who is the man or the woman. We have to be prepared to fight… the dead and the living. We can't rely on these people. You saw how Dave killed Tony over a bottle of water. It's only the beginning and that's what we have to be ready for." _

_Her grip on his collar tightened as she pulled him closer, her eyes narrowing in righteous anger, "I know what's out there. You don't! And if you don't learn… you'll die. Terry will die. We all will. And… and, I'll be damned if I let that happen to Andre."_

_She snatched her hands off him and began walking away, "This is the last time I'm warning you, Mike." _

_Mike watched a stranger wearing a black tank top that showed off slim, squared shoulders, long well-proportioned muscular arms, a trim waist sitting atop a very beautiful, firm and round ass that fit snuggly inside tight soft-skin black leather pants that clung to thick thighs and calves, that had the grace and power of a gazelle. Fingerless gloves covered her palms and knuckles, her nails unpolished._

_What happened to the woman who wore trendy, designer power suits? Where not an inch of skin would show below her neck. High heels that would make her legs so much slimmer. Her locs curled and piled high on her head, showing off her long, gracious neck. The woman who would have a fit if she left out of the house if she had one polished nail chipped. _

_What happened to the person who couldn't watch even the slightest scary movie without jumping into his lap for him to protect her?_

_He no longer knew this person._

_As Michonne went to sit with Andre, she adjusted the sword she found at the beginning and had been practicing with it ever since. She became quite good at killing walkers and thankfully her years of training in Jeet Kune Do, helped her wield the katana with relative ease._

_Before long, it was time for her to go with the volunteers on the next run. It was getting harder and harder to trust Mike and this time she didn't want to leave Andre at all. But their supplies were running low and she, Sasha and Tyrese were the only ones capable of going out to scavenge for their large group. The military personnel refused to help search for more food. They explained their orders were to protect the base and they had their own MRE's and it wasn't their responsibility to provide for the survivors._

* * *

_They returned to chaos. The soldiers had abandoned camp and folks were raiding the military tents and whatever else they could steal. The dead were coming from all sides attacking the fences. Michonne quickly ran past all the fleeing survivors to where they're tents were located._

_Behind them, the dead were starting to pour in. Tyrese and Sasha pulled out their weapons and began to fight for their lives, while Michonne ran ahead seeking out Andre._

_A stranger carrying a walking stick and his young son had just come upon the base for shelter when he ran into Tyrese and Sasha fighting. He placed his son in an abandoned M9 cargo truck and told him to keep the windows up and don't get out for any reason until he came back. He then went to help the two strangers whose clear intent was to protect those in the encampment. _

_Rushing around the corner of the tent, she and her family occupied, Michonne couldn't believe what she was witnessing. Mike and Terry, blissed out of their minds, taunting the dead who were pushing up against the fence. _

_Five-year-old Andre in between them, his dad nudging his shoulder toward the dangerous corpses to join in on the fun. They danced around, swaying their arms to and fro, kicking at them, singing loudly and provoking them. _

_They didn't realize the additional noise attracted more over to their corner of the camp._

_Andre, scared and crying, kept trying to pull away from his father and his friend, not comprehending just how dangerous the monsters were but he understood that they were something he needed to stay far away from._

_Michonne had just come upon them when several of the soulless dead, pressing on the steel mesh, began pushing it away from the metal pole. One fell through the gap and with Terry being so close, it was able to grab ahold of his ankle and began to shred the tendons of his Achilles Heel. _

_Terry yelled out in pain and panic, but it wasn't enough to break through Mike's high. He continued to dance and sing. Laughing even harder at Terry's plight. _

_Michonne felt a burst of adrenaline to get her to Andre as fast as she could. Screaming for her son, the dread and sheer horror in her voice snapped Mike to attention. As if waking from a dream, he blinked to see that his friend had been dragged closer to the fence where several monsters fed on his legs and arms while two others, seeing fresher meat beyond, scrambled over those eating Terry. The hole had now been blocked from others trying to get inside._

_One of the two that made it through, snagged a leg on the sharp metal, ripping part of its limb off. However, it could still crawl. The other one lumbered past, its hands raised to get close enough to almost reach Andre, but Michonne snatched him back in time. _

_Terror hit Mike like a freight train, and he ran and hid around the corner of the tent. Tears and snot began to run down his face as he cowardly tried to dismiss what was happening._

_Michonne didn't have time to deal with her bitch-ass boyfriend. As she snatched Andre away from the killer's claws, she swung her blade to dispatch the walking one, only to slip in the grass and drop her sword. _

_Before she could recover and get up, the one crawling had grabbed onto her foot. _

_Thankfully, she wore high top leather boots, keeping it from ripping into her skin, but it would take only seconds for it to reach her pant-covered calf and make a meal out of her. She tried kicking while she crawled away, but it kept coming. She screamed her frustration, knowing she didn't have enough time. Andre would be there alone, to face this shit without her there to protect him._

_She couldn't let that happen._

_In a last-ditch effort, she bent her knee to try and kick hard enough to break its neck when she saw her son… her baby boy, bellowing in rage as he struggled to lift her sword then dropped it on the dome of the walker. The weight of the blade forced the repulsive dead's head to hit the ground. It didn't kill it right away, but it gave Michonne the few precious seconds she needed to get off the ground, grab the sword, and short circuit its brain. _

_Andre stayed close to his mother, yet knew to keep out of the way of her katana as she went over to the fence and began jabbing walkers in the head, one after the other until last but not least, the only one moving among the pile was a freshly turned Terry. He growled and gnashed his teeth while reaching out a hand toward both Michonne and Andre as they stood over him, looking down. As she waited a beat, a quiet Andre stepped forward but not close enough for Terry to grab him, reached out his young arms and wrapped his palms around the handle. _

_Michonne released it but helped Andre hold it as he lifted it and placed the tip between Terry's glazed over, milky white eyes. When he began to push, Michonne gave him the extra strength to drive it through Terry's Glabella, directly into the brain._

_With the area cleared of walkers, Michonne took her son's hand and walked over to where Mike still cowered on the side of the tent._

_Mother and son looked down at the father. Michonne snarled in a hate-filled voice, "It's only because you gave me Andre… that I let you live."_

* * *

**_And now… the prison…_**

The new crew had settled into their new home and acclimated quickly inside the prison's grey cement walls. Rick and his sounding board of Hershel and Jacqui helped him decide where to put who. Everyone was responsible for watch tower duty and took shifts.

Rick also got a rundown on this Mike Anthony and his relationship with Michonne before the turn.

What he learned made him like the man even less. What outweighed his urge to march out at that time and find Mike was his delight in finding out Jacqui was Michonne's aunt and her penchant for gossip.

Michonne was her pride and joy before and after the turn. He loved how she gushed over her niece's life as a highly respected defense attorney in Atlanta.

"I'm not surprised she adapted to this way of life the way she did. She was always a fighter. Smart and didn't put up with any bullshit. Only thing I could fault her on was her choice of mate. That damn Mike was so arrogant. Just because he had money, he thought he could walk over anyone he wanted. He even tried to get Michonne to stop talking to us, her own family. But my baby girl wasn't falling into that trap."

Jacqui went on and on and Rick was there for all of it. He wanted to know everything about Michonne Buchont and if he had to listen to her talk about how much a piece of shit Mike was, well… so be it.

* * *

Grateful for the extra hands to help maintain the safety of their home, Rick, after slicing his palm on a broken metal door, spent the morning working on clearing the other cell blocks filled with prisoner and civilian walkers, along with Noah, Merle, Tyrese, and Glenn. Maggie worked with T-Dogg, Randall, Mike, and Morgan clearing out the fences from walkers who appeared each day.

Beth, Carol, Lori, Hershel, and Jacqui stayed within the prison and sorted out supplies and cleaned.

Shane and Sasha had watch duty.

Afterward, Rick made his way over to speak to Mike as he poked holes in the heads of the dead trying to get through the fence, "I didn't get a chance to talk much with you. Thank you for helpin' out. We're grateful."

Mike didn't bother with any pleasantries, "I see you sniffing after Michonne. You tryin' to push up on her?"

Rick didn't feel Mike deserved or warranted an answer, "Are you together or somethin'?"

"What if I said we were?"

Rick's eyes squinted as he put his hands on his hips, his fingers tapping his gun, "Well, then I'd say you were lyin'. And, it ain't any of your business what either of us is doin'. If you got any problems with that, you know where I'll be."

Rick started to head off when Mike yelled back, "That's _my_ son, Rick."

Rick turned around and walked backward, "No, he isn't. You gave up that right, remember? You have a good day now. Come find me if you got any other questions."

* * *

The next morning, after breakfast and their daily chores, the kids went out to the far-right field to practice and play. All within sight of the adults on watch in the towers, Carol and Lori working the farm, Michonne, and Daryl on the outside of the fence clearing out bodies.

Jacqui stayed inside the prison with Hershel, while Shane and Sasha spent time with Baby Judith before their shift. Beth continued making their home livable.

While Lori was busy pushing through the dirt with her hoe, she watched Michonne picking up dead corpses and dragging them up the ramp of a pickup truck and Lori didn't miss Rick making his way over to talk to her.

Carol noticed that Lori had stopped working and was just staring out past the field. "Lori, just let it go. It won't do you any good."

Lori dropped her eyes to the hoe she held and began smacking the dirt with it, "I can't. How is it fair that he can go around flirting and moving on while we're still married? I bet he's trying to get in Michonne's pants."

* * *

**_Meanwhile…_**

Howdy, ma'am. Need some help? You know you don't have to be out here doing this kind of work."

Michonne straightened after letting go a dead walker's arm. "Nah, I'm good. I can handle it and I want to make sure I contribute." She looks over to where Carl, Andre, Sophia, and Duane are playing. "It's good they have a safe place to be kids. Me and Daryl got this, you go do your thang."

Reluctant to leave just yet, he put on a serious face with a quirk of his brow, "I'm afraid I can't do that. You're in violation of a penal code 415. I run by strict rules around here and I'll have to write you a ticket."

Michonne burst out laughing, bending over with her hand over her mouth, cracking up, "I see someone's been talking to my aunt." She put a hand on her hip, "Did you really just come at me with that corny line?"

Rick smiled with a smirk and gave a tip of his non-existent hat, "Yes, ma'am. Indeed, I did."

She giggled this time, "So, now you know I used to be a defense attorney." Playing along, she pitched her voice higher and asked, "And, how have I, good sir, disturbed the peace?" She fanned herself.

"Well now," Rick scratched his beard with his thumb, "I… I guess I could say, you disturbed my peace. I thought there was nothin' out there for me. Then you came along," he looked down and kicked at the grass, "I'm hopin' that you stick around and keep breakin' the law."

The humor went away when Michonne began to stare intently at Rick, "I will gladly continue committing misdemeanors for you, Rick.

Daryl, who'd been waiting patiently for those two to finish as he unashamedly eavesdropped on their conversation, rolled his eyes and yelled out the window, "Could you two dorks hurry up already? These bodies are really starting to stank and I wanna hurry up and get'em to the burnin' pile."

Rick blushed and stepped back, "Yeah, I got some more work to do. We'll finish our talk later, Counselor?"

Michonne's eyes twinkled with her smile, "I'd like that. See you later, Sheriff."

* * *

Carol stopped and turned to Lori and reminded her, "Rick divorced you. You were standing right there. We were all standing there when he said it. And, you've been separated the entire time."

Lori began to dig with her hoe with determination, "There's always still a chance. Rick just needed some time to calm down."

Carol rolled her eyes behind Lori's back, _'A chance in Hell, maybe.' _

Out loud she asked, "Why would you think you had any shot of getting back with your ex-husband? Has Rick touched you in any intimate way this past year?"

Lori replied, "No, but it doesn't matter. We made a vow to one another."

Carol slammed down her shovel, "You broke that vow, remember?" Heated, she went on, "Sometimes I wonder if you've got something missing inside that head of yours. Rick had every right to end your marriage. You're lucky he's the type of man to have kept you around and now Shane's back and he's accepting that too."

Lori ignored Carol reminding her of what _she_ did, "Right, dear old good friend, Shane. He comes back and everything's just great and here I am stuck with nothing. I would have made some progress with Rick if Michonne and that kid hadn't shown up."

Carol shook her head, "I can't believe how oblivious you are, Lori."

"I am not oblivious. All I need is an opportunity to be heard. I can't even get a word in with Shane without that Sasha breathing down my neck." She sighed, "Those women scare me, and they always look so mean and act like they're mad at me or something. People like that always has an attitude. Every time I try to talk to them, they yell at me and I didn't do anything." Lori blinked her eyes to help squeeze out some tears then looked up to find Carol staring at her… pissed.

She'd never heard Carol sound so menacing before.

"What you're not gonna do is bring your racist ass stereotypes into this conversation. You picked the wrong woman and now is not the time. There is only the living and the dead. If you have a problem with the living because of the color of their skin, then you have a problem with me. Because I don't play that shit. Losing friends and family prioritizes things and what you're talking, ain't worth a damn."

She storms off to go back inside the prison.

Feeling frantic she may have pushed away her only friend, Lori called after her, "But, I didn't mean it that way, Carol."

The voice she heard behind her made her heart drop down to her stomach, "However did you mean it, Lori?"

She whipped around and saw Rick standing there.

"Rick, I…"

"Save it. I'm with Carol on this. Fix your shit."

Lori gasped, "How can you say that to me, Rick? You would pick that woman over me… your wife?"

Rick chewed the bottom of his lip, contemplating his next words, "You are not my wife. You are the mother of my son. Even after everythan' with Shane… you forget, he was the one that volunteered to leave and face the dead alone, just so there'd be peace between us. What have you done to fix this?"

He didn't give her a chance to answer, "Nothin' is what you did. Except you kept doin' stuff… thangs… to make everyone uncomfortable. Not just me."

He took a menacing step closer, "If anyone gets hurt over something you did. I'm puttin' your ass out."

Lori gasped, "You can't do that, I'm Carl's mother. You wouldn't push me out without my son."

"If you keep fucking with everyone, you'll find yourself living out here on that bus… alone." He pointed toward the fallen school bus in the yard. "Despite your nasty attitude, Shane and nem saved my life when they didn't have to. I like Michonne and instead of being in my business, maybe you should focus on your daughter."

Lori's thin arms wrapped around her body shaking with anger, "How dare you, Rick. How dare you!"

He gave her an incredulous look and began turning away, mumbling, "I can't believe I ever married you. I don't even know who you are."

As he began walking back to go into the prison, he heard Shane shout, "Incoming!" Not long after that, shots rang out as Sophia's piercing scream filled the air.

**A/N: Sorry about that cliffhanger (or am I?) but this chapter was running long. Thanks for reading and please let me know what you think. Does Mike deserve to be treated the way he is? Is Lori ever going to get it in her head that it's over? We shall see next week and find out why poor Sophia is screaming this time.**


	5. Killing Fields

**A/N: Thank you all for letting me know Mike deserved it, lol. I really appreciate you coming along on this journey. Your comments keep me motivated ****:)**

**And, now the answer to why Sophia screamed.**

**Enjoy!**

**P.S. I'll be jumping from scene to scene. I hope it's not too jarring for you guys and that you can follow along easily.**

**Chapter 5**

**Killing Fields**

Spike traps had been set up around the perimeter fences surrounding the prison. Their purpose was to trap walkers and trick the straying ones there was nothing around for them to eat and move on.

The traps were working, yet some still made it through.

Shane and Sasha, on watch duty, could see past the fence through trees blanketing the western side. They were the first to spot the undead creeping through. With silencers on their rifles, they raised their barrels to take out a few without attracting more with the sound of gunshots. Looking through their scopes, they began picking off the undead further in the back.

They couldn't risk taking out the ones nearest the front. Someone could accidentally get shot.

As soon as Shane yelled, "Incoming", Sophia screamed. A few who bypassed the traps somehow got through the fence and made a beeline toward live human bodies.

Rick began running towards the field where the kids were practicing, but was briefly halted by Lori grabbing onto his arm, "Rick, where are you going? Carl!"

Furious she even wasted a second of his time, Rick shoved Lori aside as he sprinted towards the far-right field.

* * *

Michonne and Daryl heard the scream and started running. Walkers coming out of the woods caused them both to stop and start slaying. Her heart pounded in fear. She knew Andre's capabilities, but anything could always happen. _'Rick and Shane are there. Sasha, Morgan… there's plenty of people that can get there faster than me. I need to focus, kill the walkers and then get to my boys.'_

As Daryl shot his targets with his crossbow. Unfortunately, he took unnecessary time to remove the arrows to use them again. Meanwhile, all Michonne focused on was swinging left, then right, sometimes killing two at a time. Her goal was to keep moving toward Andre, Carl and Duane's location. She kept talking to herself to keep from panicking, _'They'll keep them safe. They'll keep them safe,'_ as she ran.

* * *

Mike and Randall were on fence duty and when they heard the scream, they stayed put. There was nothing much they could do except get in the way. So, they continued to rattle the fence and poke holes in walker's heads.

While lifting the sharpened crowbar and stabbing, Mike asked, "You got a package for me later on?"

Randall, though young in years appeared old and weary. His skin mottled and drooping, dark bags hung under his eyes and forever bloodshot. He retorted, "Yeah, I got you some of the good shit." He stepped closer to Mike to make sure no one overheard him talking. "I've been supplying for you over a month. My boss said it's time and he wants me to talk to you about payment."

Mike pulled the bar out of a mechanic's eye socket, "What kind of payment? You know money's no good and I don't have any. What does he want?"

* * *

Rick hurried to reach the kids. He could see several of the undead made it inside the fence. He didn't know how they got in and didn't have time to figure it out at the moment. Sophia had curled into a little ball while the boys surrounded her, defending the little girl against the walkers that were coming for them. Duane carried a stick like his father, Andre had his knives and Carl was carrying a machete. His son knew not to use his gun if it wasn't absolutely necessary. Because if he didn't have a silencer, it would draw more to their location.

Rick was almost there. Even though it looked like there were more than the boys could handle, they were holding their own.

It's a good thing they were so badass.

Duane used the skills his father taught him. Using his staff, he swept the feet out from under them and then jabbed them in the head. Carl and Andre teamed up just like he did with his mother. Andre whipped around the walker's feet like a tiny cyclone, slicing their ankles and calves without them being aware of what was happening. When they crashed to the ground, Carl used his machete to crack skulls or trampled on their heads.

Rick needed to focus and stop admiring the boys. He knew Michonne heard the scream and would be on her way.

He needed to make a good impression.

Morgan, Glenn, and Maggie came running up on his side to join him.

"I need you and Maggie to go to the fence, make as much noise as possible so we can break up this group and lure some over to the other side."

Without question, the young couple immediately took off toward the front gates while Morgan continued forward to assist his son.

Leaving his gun holstered, Rick, in fitted jeans tight around his thighs, pulled out his hatchet and intercepted the ones who broke through the fence. Swinging muscled arms, glistening with sweat, caught a male walker in the jaw, its blade sinking deep enough to disconnect the brain. Rick raised his booted foot to press against the monster's chest, his damp curls flying with his movements, and pushed it off. Another one coming from his six tried to latch on to Rick's arm. He kicked it back before whacking it on the back of the neck.

Rick went into a zone and began mindlessly dispatching one walker after another, knocking down each one that walked into his path.

He finally made it to their point of entry. Glenn and Maggie were able to bait a few of the walkers to follow them but more were pushing at the fence. Once a few got through, more continued to follow.

* * *

Sasha and Shane kept shooting walkers further out from up in the towers. T-Dogg and Noah, in the other tower, used their long-range rifles. Sasha, never taking her eyes off the target suggested, "Me, Noah and T can cover from the towers. You wanna go down to that fence and see if you can close it to keep any more walkers from gettin' inside?"

"Yeah, I can do that. You sure you'll be okay up here?"

She lifted her head and looked at him, "Go ahead, I got this."

Shane set down his rifle gently and pulled Sasha in for a brief kiss, "I love you. Make sure you get them bitches."

Sasha's eyes twinkled, her nose scrunched up in the cutest way as she smiled, "I love you, too. Hey, once you close that hole, make sure everybody's inside the fence and give me a signal. We can pick the rest of those motherfucker's off without anybody bein' in the way. Now, move that sweet ass, sir.

"You got it, sweet cheeks." Shane ran down the steps of the tower, bypassed a crying Lori and joined Rick, Morgan and the boys to prevent more walkers from getting through the hole in the fence.

Rick kept an eye on the boys and was glad to see Shane roll up and work on the walkers trying to get to Sophia who still lay on the ground, wrapped around her doll.

Soon, they were joined by Michonne and Daryl who had given up on his crossbow and now wielded his giant bowie knife to kill the ones outside the metal barricade. T-Dogg, Noah, and Sasha stopped shooting once they came into the frame.

Michonne sliced and diced her way to the opening and once the free-roaming walkers were clear, she walked through the same hole they were able to get in and eliminated those standing between her and her family.

They all continued to fight until the undead dwindled down to a few. Shane gave a sharp whistle and waved his arm. Once they got the signal, Sasha, T-Dogg, and Noah began killing off the walkers still lurking on the other side of the fence.

After all the threats had been neutered, Michonne ran to her son as Rick went to Carl. Each falling to their knees, adrenaline on high, squeezing and hugging their precious babies.

Morgan pulled Duane into his arms with a relieved sob.

Before long, Michonne and Rick had switched kids. She with Carl and he took Andre. Tears running down all their faces with relief.

The next thing anyone knew, Rick's arm snaked around Michonne's waist as he pulled her into his arms, his lips thirstily seeking hers. She was surprised at first but the feeling that her children were safe, pressed against Rick's solid strength, alive and breathing, and the excitement of the fight, didn't let herself think twice about falling into him and opening her mouth for his kiss.

The boys, forgotten, were standing there confused their parents would kiss each other after a battle with the dead undead scattered all around them.

Rick had dropped his hatchet and Michonne lay down her sword to fully embrace in front of everyone, without a care in the world.

Shane glanced over from the fence, saw his best friends and shook his head, chuckling to himself, _"I knew it."_

Rick became aware of everybody staring at them, yet it didn't make him let her go. It was about time everybody knew where his interest lies.

He only tightened his arms around Michonne's waist and stood, bringing her up with him. Hands at the back of her waist, his fingers curled around the belt of her jeans, hoisting her ass briefly, crushing her breasts against his chest.

Michonne let out a low, seductive whimper.

Rick's left eyebrow lifted… curious.

Delving into the deep chocolate brown of her eyes, he spoke low enough where only she could hear, "That's two violations, Counselor. Your arraignment is scheduled in the warden's office. Tonight, at ten o'clock. Miss it and a warrant for your arrest will be issued. Will you comply?"

Gripping her tighter around her middle to steady her feet, he swept his tongue across her bottom lip before raising his head and stepping back.

While he waited for her answer, Rick peered around looking for any other danger. Shane, Morgan, and Daryl were studying the fence where the dead entered, Maggie and Glenn still worked with Mike and Randall and when he turned to check the prison, his head was forced back by an unexpected blow to the jaw.

Startled, Rick tripped over his feet and began to fall. Andre standing beside him would have gone down with him if Rick hadn't twisted his body to keep from landing on the little boy.

When he realized who hit him, he yelled, "Are you fuckin' serious!"

* * *

Mike was finishing the last of the undead trying to reach for him through the fence. Glenn and Maggie had lured more over for him to eliminate. Thank goodness they stayed to help. He waited until they moved further down to clear out walkers on the opposite end. It was the perfect opportunity to finish handling his business with Randall. "About that payment. Since money is out. What will he take instead? Whatever it is, I'll pay it. I need my shit."

Randall had been getting his goods from Merle ever since the farm but once his stock dried up, Merle decided to go cold turkey on account that his brother didn't approve, and he always wanted to please Daryl. He created a spot where he could sneak out of the prison in search of a new supplier. He found some man called the Governor who ran a small community a couple of miles away.

At first, he supplied the drugs to Randall for free. Randall guessed to get his clients addicted. Now he's demanding payment. Mike was good and well hooked, so he'd probably pay anything. "My boss enjoys female companionship and he wants you to get him one. You know how things are now, one woman going missing won't hurt anything."

Randall leaned against his shovel. "He especially likes them feisty. There are plenty of women here and you can take anyone you want. So, who's it gonna be?"

Mike wasn't even worried about the price. He'd gladly pay it. His only worry, who was he going to choose and how would he be able to sneak them out of here. Looking around, he saw Carol and Jacqui up by the gates, Maggie was down on the end with her boyfriend Glenn, Lori was moving fast in the field toward…

_'Who the hell was Rick hugging? I shouldn't have even had to ask myself that question. Of course, it would be Michonne. That bastard didn't waste any time, did he?'_

"I know exactly who the perfect candidate will be. I hope you have a plan. Cause I'm ready to get this shit over with." Mike turned his focus off a hugging Michonne and Rick to make his way back to his cell room.

* * *

The sucker punch to Rick's jaw surprised everyone. Andre and Carl moved to try and help Rick to his feet. Morgan, Shane, and Daryl hurried back in that direction because shit was about to go down. Jacqui and Carol anxiously watched from the inner gates, their hands clinging tightly to the metal links of the fence.

Sasha crossed her fingers that Shane would keep his cool.

Seeing Andre nearly being crushed by Rick… all due to Lori being stupid, Sasha knew it was no use to ask that of Michonne.

Lori, in a blind rage, was oblivious to how her actions just put her on the shit list, screamed at Rick, "I told you letting him out here on his own would put him in danger. He could have been killed because of your recklessness!"

Everything was quiet. Only the soft chirping of birds could be heard off in the distance as Shane quietly stepped to Rick's side and placed a light restraining hand on his forearm. He whispered, "Ain't nothin' you can do, Rick."

Carl was still recovering from his fight with the walkers and his mother's screeching compelled him to hurry and wrap his arms around his father protectively. The same as Andre, they all seemed as if they were holding Rick back.

They didn't account for Michonne.

Rick, blue eyes wide, just stared. He knew he wasn't going to hit Lori back, he wanted to, but he'd never do that in front of Carl. However, he knew how protective Michonne was over her boy.

He had no plans to stop her.

His entire family now stood around watching silently for the ass whooping that Lori had been asking for, ever since the divorce.

All eyes turned to the silent woman whose eyes had narrowed into slits, her hands hung loosely at her sides as she began taking the few steps she needed to stand in front of Lori Mayo.

Shane whispered again, "Lori has this comin'. She hurt you and she almost hurt Andre."

Jacqui's voice pierced the silence, "Get that bitch, Mitchie!"

Michonne ignored her aunt and concentrated on Lori. She'd paid close attention to Rick's ex-wife and she was just like every other spoiled woman who took other's kindness and twisted it in her favor. She survived childbirth in the apocalypse, a phenomenal feat, yet she had no problem taking advantage of her friends and family surrounding her to care for Judith.

Lori understands that for Carl to survive this world, he needs to know how to defend himself. She cannot keep using her child to control a man who doesn't want to be with her.

Her first priority was her son and in Lori's unreasonable fury, she put him in harm's way, while trying to hurt Rick. She'd kept her distance from the woman but this… this shit won't fly. And suckering someone she knows won't hit her back… ends today.

"Shane, Rick, Morgan… Daryl. Take the boys inside. Lori and I are going to have a little talk." She picked up her katana.

Lori put her hands to her mouth, gasping, "Oh, my god, she's going to kill me!"

Rolling her eyes at Lori's dramatics, Michonne flicked the extra gore off her sword and placed it in its sheath. She handed it to Shane. "Can you take this with you?"

Rick kept his focus on Michonne. She gave him a brief smile and a nod… a silent message passed between the two as he nodded back. He picked up Andre and put a hand on Carl's shoulder who was still distraught. "Come on boys, let's go raid Michonne's candy box."

Surprise took Carl out of his distress. He reprimanded his father, "Dad, you know we're not allowed to touch those."

Rick winked at Michonne and pulled his son closer as they walked away, "She can beat me up later."

After taking Michonne's sword, Shane asked, "You got this?"

She nodded, "I got this."

Lori's now pleading eyes begged for them to stay but she was ignored by all.

As soon as the group disappeared around the corner, Michonne sneered, "I'm not going to punch you without you seeing it coming."

Lori's eyes grew as wide as saucers as she watched Michonne haul her balled fist back, swing it in a fast arc, then tap the side of her jaw with a quick, right cross. Lucky for her, Michonne pulled the punch before allowing it to follow through, taking much of its power away.

Lori would have been knocked the fuck out if Michonne had fully hit her.

With a hand raised to her face, a swelling immediately began to rise along her jaw, Lori was shocked, "You hit me!"

Incredulous, Michonne replied, "Bitch, you hit Rick. Did you really think just because you're a woman that it's okay for you to put hands on someone? Even if the world hadn't ended you should never hit a person out of malice and not expect to get hit back."

Lori dropped her hand from her face and raised her chin, "He put my son in danger. I've told him several times and he should have known better not to do that."

Michonne tilted her head, "Rick is not your child to control." Standing taller and straightening her shoulders, "You and your shitty ways almost destroyed my brother, almost hurt my son, terrified Carl more than the undead and you raised your hands against the man who has been protecting you ever since the world was destroyed. Coddling you is over and if you ever hurt my family again…," she leaned in close and closed her opened hand into a clenched fist, right in Lori's face, "I. Will. Kill. You."

Michonne walked away from a shocked and stunned Lori.

When she entered the prison commissary, Rick stood there waiting. "You okay?"

Michonne tilted her head and raised an eyebrow, asking a silent question of her own which Rick answered, "I'm okay."

She shrugged her shoulders to shake off the anger Lori invoked, "I know."

Rick studied her stiff shoulders smattered with walker gore, her still trembling lips and the deep breaths she took to calm herself, "How?"

Michonne closed her eyes for a brief moment, took in another deep breath and raised her hand to his jawline and ran her fingers through his thick beard. She raised up on her tippy toes and softly touched her lips to his, "Cause I'm okay, too," when she pulled back. She began walking away, the tips of her fingers sliding down his chin, across his neck before leaving him, "See you at ten, Sheriff."

He continued to watch as she went over to the sink and cleaned off her arms and hands, then went over to console the kids who were sitting together quietly talking amongst themselves and eating the candy from her stash. Rick noticed that Daryl and Hershel were trying to get his attention. When he reached them, Daryl kept his voice quiet, "Someone cut the fence. That's how those walkers got in. It wasn't like that a month ago. I found a trail leading somewhere. I can take Merle with me and follow where it goes."

Hershel agreed. "We can't have someone sneaking in and out of here. But before we accuse anyone, we need to find out where the trail leads.

Rick was thinking along the same lines. "I have a suspicion who would do some shit like that, but I want to keep this between the three of us until we know more."

Daryl added, "Shane and Morgan know about it, too."

"Okay, that'll be five, then."

Daryl was surprised, "You mean to tell me, you won't tell Michonne?"

Rick pursed his lips as he looked at Daryl like he was crazy, "Pshaw! Of course, I'm telling her. What I know, she knows."

Hershel and Daryl turned to each other puzzled. "But you just said… never mind. I'll keep watch tonight, then me and Merle will track the trail tomorrow."

All talking ceased when the door slammed and Lori walked in, holding her face. Carl saw his mother then turned his back on her and continued talking with Duane and Sophia. Michonne watched her silently as she rocked a sleepy Andre in her lap.

She moved straight to where Shane and Sasha sat holding Judith. Shane grew tense while Sasha babbled with the baby in her arms until Lori stood in front of their table, "I'd like to spend some time with my child if you don't mind."

Sasha gave a worried look to Shane and he gave her a brief nod.

Lori chuckled without mirth, "I don't need his permission to hold my own baby." She held out her arms for Sasha to give up Judith. She'd been quiet and cooing softly but as soon as Lori touched her and brought her up to her boney shoulder, she burst out into tears and began to scream.

It was so sudden, Lori almost dropped her. She began rocking her and telling her to shush. Shane handed her a bottle. Judith didn't want it. She would open her eyes, see Lori's face and commence to wail even louder. Lori looked to anyone else besides Michonne, Shane and Sasha to help. No one helped, not even Carol.

Jacqui strolled up and held out her hands.

Lori didn't want to admit defeat and give her up just because she didn't know how to calm her own baby. Except Judith's wailing grated at her nerves and she couldn't take much more, "Here!"

Judith simmered down and stayed quiet after Lori put the baby in Jacqui's comforting arms. Jacqui then turned and handed her back to Shane.

Michonne's aunt spoke with a hint of smugness, "She don't know you," tilted her head and gave her an impish smirk before leaving the commissary.

Rick left his meeting and went over to Michonne's table. He noticed that Lori went over to where Mike and Randall were sitting.

Shane and his family stood and announced, "We're gonna put this wee one to bed and rest for a bit before our next shift. See y'all later."

Sophia and the boys were still quiet. Carol sat next to her daughter, while Morgan hovered in the background, making himself available if his son needed him. Rick had to think of something. Today sucked for everybody and nothing was going to stop his court appointment at ten.

He clapped his hands when he sat down next to Carl, "Alright, how would you guys like an old-fashioned slumber party?"

All three pre-teens turned to him with a puzzled look, Carl asked, "Isn't that for girls?"

"Nah, a party is a party. See, I'll set up a spot, just for you, with plenty of popcorn, stale of course, but there are a bunch of different flavors. They'll be board games. We have a ton of sheets to make a fort. We got cookies and for the _Pièce de résistance_," Rick being extra extravagant, kissed his fingers, "chocolate-covered Twinkies."

The thought of the party cheered up the kids and it also brought a smile to the adult's faces. "Now give me ten minutes to set all this up and then we're gonna have some fun."

Carol raised her hand, "I'll help."

Beth joined in, "Me too."

The rest of the fam joined in and set up one of the larger rooms for the kids and some of the adults to use this moment in time to put the fight against the walkers earlier that day behind them. There was no music but T-Dogg, who just finished his watch, came in and used two buckets and wooden spoons to drum up a beat. Noah performed by rapping and beatboxing.

Sasha and Shane delayed Judith's bedtime to hang out. Michonne pulled the kids out on a makeshift dance floor and shuffled some moves with the makeshift music.

Lori, Mike, and Randall refused to participate.

Later, Rick checked his watch. Time was running short and he needed to go get things ready. He had already spoken with Carol, Noah, and Beth to stay with the kids when everything wound down.

It took him another twenty minutes to set things up. When he went back to the party, it was still in full swing. He walked over to Michonne playing Fish for Twinkies. He leaned down, dropped a brown paper grocery bag in front of her before whispering in her ear, "Counselor, court will be in session in the Warden's office. You've got twenty minutes before I issue out that warrant."

**A/N: Next week, court will be in session. Did Lori deserve it? Should Rick have retaliated? Mike doesn't seem to have learned a thing. What do you think he's gonna do?**

**Thanks for reading and please let me know what you think of this chapter.**


	6. Ginuwine

**A/N: Thanks for all the great responses to the last chapter. It really makes my heart swell with happiness when you give me your thoughts. I am so eternally grateful. This one's a little longer than usual. I hope you all don't mind. NSFW**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 6**

**Ginuwine**

After Rick delivered his gifts to Michonne, he left the party and checked to make sure Oscar, Tyreese, Merle and Daryl were doing alright on watch, ensured Randall and Mike were in their cells and bid Shane, Sasha, and Judith goodnight before he hurried to move his supplies to the Warden's office.

Shifting things around, he set up candles and placed a blanket over Andre's bed. He'll make permanent changes tomorrow. Right now, he didn't need any distractions. Everything had to be perfect.

In the megastore, he found an iPod that still had a charge and saved it for just this special occasion. There was some pre-recorded music already uploaded but he had no idea what type of songs were on the playlist. He hooked it up to corded speakers which only required batteries and hoped for the best.

He had cleaned up before dropping off the bag, but he checked himself again anyway. Running his fingers through his curls he separated them into some semblance of order. He wore one of his better dark button-ups that weren't ripped, and he made sure to wear his neatest jeans. They were a little tight but that was okay.

Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about his growing beard. With the few dates he's had in the past with Lori and before, he always made sure he was clean-shaven.

He hoped Michonne wouldn't mind.

Rick licked the tip of his thumb to straighten out his eyebrows then nervously wiped his hands on the back of his jeans, sat down in one of the chairs he brought in and waited for Ms. Buchont to show.

* * *

In the communal showers, Michonne shuttered in delight as the silky texture of the crimson, jersey dress slid down her well-scrubbed body. She adjusted its scoop neck and cami straps while slipping her feet into the thick-soled, maroon flip flops Rick had so thoughtfully placed in the paper bag, along with the garment, for their court date tonight.

She couldn't help but giggle when she pulled out a box of spearmint and baking soda toothpaste, toothbrush, and dental floss.

When she finished getting ready, she walked through the halls of the prison. The partygoers had quieted down and when she peeked in on the kids, she had to slap a hand over her mouth to keep her bark of laughter from waking them up.

Rick outdid himself with the candy because all of them were passed out from a sugar buzz. Even the adults. Carl lay face down, draped over a large couch cushion. His upper body was spread out on the hard floor while his bottom half was raised in the air. Someone had placed a thin blanket over him, but it would have been better if they had moved his body to a more comfortable position. She quietly and gently pulled the cushion out from under Carl, rolled him over on his side and placed a pillow under his head. She ran her hand over his soft, brown hair before checking out the rest of the room.

Duane sat in a lounge chair, sitting straight with his head falling back over the chair's edge, snoring. Sophia, next to her sleeping mother, lay curled in a ball hugging her dolly. The rest of the adults were strewed here and there. All of them knocked out.

When her eyes spotted Andre, she had to hold back another guffaw, her poor baby had a two-seater couch all to himself, except, he was on his back, hanging halfway over the edge upside down. She didn't know what magical weight was keeping her son from falling and hitting the floor and she didn't want to wait and find out. So, she tip-toed around bodies till she reached him and gently laid him properly on the couch and snuck back out hoping she didn't wake anyone.

She did one last round to see who was on watch and then made her way to the warden's office. The door had a frosted window and she could see candlelight flickering through the cloudy glass. Wiping her palms on the silky fabric of the dress, she raised her hand and knocked.

* * *

Rick opened the Warden's door to a divine vision he never thought he'd ever see. Michonne Buchont standing there. Her dainty feet, wearing comfortable thongs spread a shoulder's width apart. She wore the silk slim-fitting red slip he found at the megastore. It fit her just as he imagined… caressing all her curves. Her back was straight, her shoulders were up, and she wore a nervous smile.

An angelic package stood before him… a _heavenly archangel_ with a katana strapped behind her back.

Brown gazed into blue. No movement nor words were spoken for several heartbeats.

Michonne broke their staring contest when she spoke in one of the softest and sweetest voice he'd ever heard, "I'm here to turn myself in, Sheriff."

Rick stepped aside, opening the door further, "You're right on time. I thought I was gonna have to put an APB out on you."

Michonne giggled as she walked past then gasped at the changes he made to her and Andre's room. There were lit candles on every flat surface on one side of the room. Andre's bed must've been under a set of blankets because she didn't see it. He had pulled her mattress off the cots and placed it on the floor and added another one the same size on top.

He set up a small table where… she couldn't believe it, "Is that an iPod?" She stepped over to get a closer look. There were speakers attached. "Does this work?" Next to the music station was a bowl filled with round, shiny chocolate, "Rick… more candy? I'm going to be brushing my teeth ten times a day after this," she laughed before plopping one in her mouth.

Rick stood by her side, "Andre said these were your favorite. And, if I have to go on runs ten times a week for your toothpaste, then that's what I'll do."

Michonne stopped chewing and swallowed… hard.

Rick continued, "I have no idea what music's on this thang, but I'm guessing it works. Wanna try it out?" He pulled out a chair for her to sit.

Michonne popped in another piece then sat down, "Sure, let's see what mystery music you got."

Rick went to press a button to turn it on, then picked it up to fiddle with it. "I don't know how this thang works," he said, confused by its flat surface.

Michonne reached out and took it from him. Rick didn't miss how soft her fingers felt when they grazed his.

"Let me see. I think you have to press here," she pushed down in the middle of the circle, then with a sweep of her thumb, she navigated to the music menu and pressed the sideways triangle. She figured Rick didn't try it out first because a weird electronic beat blasted out of the speakers.

Michonne immediately recognized it. She reached over and turned it down and they both listened.

Rick picked up the small music box and looked at the name, "Pony. Must be a country song. I hope you like that kind of music."

While Michonne tried her best to hold in her laugh, unfortunately, she couldn't stop her eyes from watering thinking about what's gonna happen when Rick figures out what kind of song this actually was.

_I'm just a bachelor…_

_I'm looking for a partner… _

Rick nodded as he agreed with that sentiment. "The music is a lil' different but yep."

_Someone who knows how to ride…_

Rick continued to bop his head to the beat, "Yeah, it's good she knows how to ride a horse."

Michonne put a hand to her mouth and snorted.

Rick caught her trying not to laugh, "What?"

The singer continued.

_If you're horny…_

_Let's do it…_

_Ride it, my pony…_

Rick's eyes grew wide and his mouth dropped open in shock, "Wait… what… this ain't no country song."

Michonne couldn't hold it back any longer and burst out cracking up. Tears ran down her face and she had to hold onto her stomach because it began to hurt.

_My saddle's waitin'…_

_Come and jump on it…_

Rick turned up the volume while Michonne tried to calm herself. He leaned in and concentrated on the lyrics.

_The things I would do to you…_

_You and your body…_

_Every single portion…_

_Send chills up and down your spine…_

_Juices flowing down your thigh…_

Rick turned his azure gaze and latched onto Michonne's. Her humor disappeared in the face of the heat coming from across the table. The muscles in her throat worked overtime as she tried to swallow and clear her throat. "Oh my."

As the music continued to play, Rick stood and held out his hand, "Dance with me."

Michonne couldn't argue and wasn't about to. She placed her palm in his and he helped her stand and led her out into the middle of the floor. The wildly sexual song hidden within basic words was slow enough for him to slide his hands around her waist and rest the tips of his fingers on top where the swell of Michonne's ass began.

She placed her hands upon his shoulders as they began moving slowly to Timberland's music. "This isn't something I generally listen to, but I like it. It describes how I'm feelin' right about now."

They danced for a bit.

Chewing on the inside of his cheek, Rick leaned down, brushed several of her locs out of the way and whispered in her ear, "Would you, Michonne?"

She lifted her head to see his face and whispered back, "Would I what?"

His hands drifted farther down and cupped the plump cheeks of her ass and pulled her into his growing erection, "Would you ride my pony?"

Michonne was way ahead of him by pushing her hips further into his and swiveling her pelvis. She couldn't miss his major hard-on and she bumped into him more, her mouth opening into an excited _'O'_. "That's not a pony, Rick. That's an Anheuser Busch."

Ginuwine's song ended and the room was silent except for the couples breathing. Confused, Rick asked before another slow tune began, "Uhm… a what?"

Feeling bold, Michonne reached down and ran her fingers softly over Rick's bulge, "You know, those big horses in that beer commercial. You are more like them," she gave him a gentle squeeze, "than some little pony."

Rick burst out laughing as they still swayed to the music, Michonne still palming his dick, "Oh! You mean a Clydesdale. That's the name of the horse in those commercials."

Michonne chuckled, "Really? I thought they were called Anheuser Busch. You know, Daryl was right. We are a couple of dorks."

Rick grew serious, "That may be, but you know I'm your dork. You know that, right?" He began walking her backward until her back pressed against the wall, "I noticed somethin' today. You know what that is, Michonne?"

His voice had gone deeper and hypnotic. Michonne could only focus on his timber. All humor had flown from her body and now she felt her heart pounding and a pulse beating deep within her abdomen. She bit her lip and tentatively whispered, "No."

Rick removed her katana from around her head and placed it on the desk next to where they stood. He removed his gun belt and set it beside her weapon. He then grasped her palms and raised them high against the wall, placing one hand in the other. He leaned in closer, "Leave them there."

Michonne's nipples immediately hardened at the command in his voice.

Rick quirked a brow at her, then slid his hands down her arms. He stopped at her unbound breasts and spied her hard nipples. "I see something that I'd very much like to taste." With one of his hands, he grabbed her neck then placed his thumb over her pulse that beat rapidly.

Michonne's tongue made a full appearance, swiping her bottom lip to moisten it. His hand continued its downward slide until he stopped at her waist. He slowly curled his fingers, gathering the material of the silky slip until the hem reached her hips. She gasped in surprise but didn't move when he grabbed the ends and pulled it off in one swoop.

Never moving his focus, he asked, "May I?"

Bringing his hands back to her bountiful breasts, he cradled them in his palms as his azure eyes looked up to her for acceptance. When he saw her desire as well as her consent, he continued.

His voice deepened as he murmured, "Beautiful," before leaning in to pull a turgid nipple inside his warm mouth. Circling the hard nubbin, his eyes closed in pleasure as he used the tip of his tongue to flick and suck. Michonne kept her arms up in the air and against the wall as he took his pleasure. While one breast bathed in Rick's mouth, the other received a massage from a calloused and strong hand.

Each pinch of her nipple shot lustful pulses on down to her anxious and impatient pussy.

Whimpers and moans of ecstasy were the only things that could be heard within the confines of the room and the open laundry chute.

* * *

"Noah, I thought you were hanging with the kids at the party?" Shane asked after pulling out his third warm can of beer. He had left his own quarters after Sasha and Judith both fell asleep. He'd felt restless for the past couple of days and after today's event and Lori's behavior his patience was wearing thin. He needed to talk to Tyrese first and then he needed to talk to Sasha. Both conversations broke him out in a cold sweat.

_'How do you go about these things in the apocalypse?'_

Noah scratched his head as he yawned, "I was sleep 'til Rick peeked in and laughed then Michonne came in later and moved her boys around. They thought they were being quiet, but I heard 'em. So, now I'm here looking for something to snack on."

T-Dogg walked in rubbing his stomach, "You're still hungry? After all that shit Rick brought to the party. I feel like I wanna throw up, I ate so much junk food."

Shane, sipping his beer, chuckled at their banter.

Noah asked, "Hey, why are you up? You was asleep when I left."

"That because yo loud ass woke me up when you slammed the door. It's lucky Carol, Beth and the kids sleep like rocks or you would have woke them up, too." T sat next to Shane and gave out a huge burp, "I know I'm gonna be sittin' on the toilet for at least an hour."

Shane feeling his buzz coming on, bust out laughing, "You's nasty, T."

Noah was going through the cabinets and pulled out a pack of Ritz crackers before standing straight, "Hey. Did you hear that?"

Shane and T-Dogg quieted down, heard what sounded like a low keening, then they all turned their heads towards the laundry chute's discharge tube.

* * *

Michonne couldn't believe it. Here she was, finally alone with Rick. However, she never dreamed she would be pinned against the wall… with nothing holding her there, except his _word_. If she was honest, she'd always known there was a side of her that was a bit submissive. She never explored that side because there'd never been anyone she felt safe enough to just let it all go.

And here… here in the apocalypse where the dead rose, where there was no electricity, and any day could be their last, Michonne finally found herself sliding into subspace.

All because of this bow-legged sheriff from Kings County.

His mouth traded places and was now bathing the other breast and for the life of her, his command to keep her hands up is frankly making her keep them up against the wall. Rick backed off her and she whimpered at the loss as the cold room air hit her damp nipples. He eyed her up and down. She wanted to turn away, but she lifted her chin in a challenge and matched his intense gaze instead.

He raised his hand once again and placed it at her throat, reveling in the strength and beauty of her dark skin compared to his. With a firm yet determined touch, he let his hand rove down and trail a path between her breasts, down her torso, until he glided it between her thighs to lightly rub a finger along her cotton-covered slit. He removed his hands, took a step back, his breathing was slow and steady, nostrils flaring as his heated gaze looked her over.

"Open them."

Michonne didn't hesitate. The mental hold he had over her made her spread her legs, quickly. She anticipated with a hitched breath as she waited for his next instruction. He stepped closer and braced one hand along the wall alongside her and placed his other hand on her abdomen, fingers down, and slowly slid his hand down into her panties. All the while staring into her brown eyes.

She whispered, "Rick, I…"

"No," he whispered back as he cupped her mound, "more," his voice had gone deeper.

She didn't need to ask what he meant by _'more'_. She already knew. She spread her legs more to give him room to roam. His middle finger brushed lightly across her clit to venture into her hidden depths. When his large digit penetrated, her mouth fell open and her eyes began to close.

"Eyes on me."

Rick felt elated with satisfaction when her eyelids snapped open at his command. His fingers delighted in the feel of her soft lips and how wet she was. He slipped his other hand around the back of her neck and pulled her closer as she stared at him in fascination.

"Yes." He drawled as he tilted her head and placed his lips onto hers, savoring their plumpness and softness, his tongue gliding along to moisten their joining. All the while his hand played along her nether lips, forcing her to utter small whimpers as he breathed in her scent. "You knew this was how it was going to be between us?" He asked when he pulled back, his finger making twirling circles around her clit.

Taking in a sharp breath. Michonne couldn't speak, she could only nod her head.

He bit her bottom lip lightly before slipping his hand from her underwear and stepping back again. Michonne's hands reached down to pull him back before she caught herself. Rick cleared his throat before speaking, "Turn around, drop those panties and put your hands against the wall."

Outside-this-room-Michonne made an appearance, "What if I don't want to?"

Rick quirked a brow.

Rick pulled her by the waist and let her feel his desire for her. He ground his hips into hers and her eyes fluttered. He brought his lips within a hair's wisp of hers, "Do you want this, Michonne?" He moved his pelvis back and forth.

Michonne let out a breathy, "Yes."

Rick growled low, _"Drop… Those… Panties."_ He let her go and she did an about-face and pushed her underwear down past her knees then placed her hands against the wall, her body shaking with desire and nervousness. She peeked over her shoulder to see what he was doing. He had sunk to his knees and was staring at her ass and pussy. He cocked his head to the side and met her eyes. With a smile, he happily closed them and dove in. She couldn't see, but she sure could feel. His long tongue slid along her crease from the tip of her pussy to the top of her ass, moaning as he did.

Her louder moans joined his.

* * *

"What the fuck is that? And, where is it coming from?" Noah put down the pack and moved closer to the laundry chute.

Shane listened then put a hand to his mouth and scoffed.

T-Dogg joined him, "Is that… "

Noah crunched on the cracker still in his hand, "That sounds like…"

They both were interrupted by the cackling and wheezing coming from a drunk and red-faced Shane. He was laughing so hard, he bent over in his chair, fell out and hit the floor, grasping his stomach. The moaning and groaning from the chute became louder, making Shane convulse even harder. It seemed he lost control of his body and dragged himself over to one of the lower cabinets, wheezing humorously as he crawled inside, shaking his head, reciting the mantra, "No, no, no, no… ", as he shut the door on a bewildered Noah and T-Dogg.

"What the fuck is wrong with him?" T asked.

Noah shrugged his shoulders and turned back to listen again, "Ah, man… don't tell me we got werewolves on top of zombies. I can't take that shit if there is."

Shane's bark of laughter came even louder through the cabinet door. They could tell Shane was slapping the closed door he was choking and laughing so hard. "Werewolves! I can't… I… Hahahahaha!"

Merle came walking in to get something to drink before going back out to his tower, "Who's bangin' in the cabinet and what're y'all doin'?"

T-Dogg reluctantly turned his head away from the chute, "That's just Shane. He's drunk. Noah thinks there're werewolves out there."

Shane pounded again, this time kicking with his feet.

Merle looked over at the closed cabinet, back to Noah and T-Dogg, closed his eyes as he listened in, "I can't believe I have to explain this. That's Rick and Michonne fuckin'." He grabbed his water bottle, shook his head in disbelief at the clueless two and left out.

T-Dogg stuck his head inside the chute, "Well, I'll be damned. They really goin' at it and loud as fuck."

* * *

Mike, alone in his cell heard a familiar sound but not quite the same. Once he realized it was Michonne's voice he heard, his mind went dark with rage, "I hate that bitch. I know she's faking for that fucker. She never had to scream like that with me. I was the only one who knew how to get her off." Happy in his delusion, he turned on his side, punched the pillow before putting it over his ears to block out Michonne's keening.

* * *

Oblivious to anyone hearing them, Rick's mouth followed the same path as his fingers, flicking her clit before drawing lazy circles. His slurping noises and his grunts of pleasure had Michonne pushing against the wall, digging her nails in so hard, she had a fleeting thought she may break a digit.

She had to admit, no one ever ate her so good. Rick's tongue felt so deep and so full, she was a little intimidated by the Clydesdale in his pants. One thing she knew for sure, going by his oral skills, he knew what he was doing and she was uncertain if she would be able to handle it.

She was thinking so much, that when the first orgasm hit, it caught her by surprise, and she jumped up onto her toes and smashed her nose into the wall. No pain in the entire world could overcome the pleasure he wrought on her poor pussy.

The wail that issued from her throat was loud in her ears and echoed throughout the room.

She didn't care.

Rick palmed her ass as Michonne came, massaging the muscles as he tasted one end to the other. When she settled down, he gave her a huge kiss on her nether lips before leaning back and giving her cheek a sharp slap. Startled and panting, Michonne looked back once again. Rick stood, his belt buckle clinking loudly as he unzipped his jeans and released his painful and straining organ, holding it in his hand, waiting for her to recover so he could plunge into her hot, wet depths.

"What in the hell is that?"

He looked at her puzzled until he saw where she was looking. Her eyes were pointing accusingly at his dick. He quirked a smile, "Why this is my Clydesdale, Michonne."

Michonne started to argue, "Rick, you are not putting that thing anywhere near me. You won't be able to fit that monstrosity. Put…"

Rick cut off her protest when he eased the tip inside and she went from spitting fire to oohing and ahhing as he pulled her ass-cheeks apart to slide in more of himself. "After all the shit I've been through," he grunted, "I was being prepared for you." He slowly drove in 'til he was seated in her fully. "My heart, my soul… this body was waiting specifically for you. We fit Michonne." Her wet walls massaged and squeezed his hardness, "Everything I have… is yours and you can handle everything I have to give you."

He rubbed her bottom as she got used to his size, hitting her with short jabs while they waited. He then drew back until he was almost out then pushed back in, "Take this dick, Michonne." All that could be heard, was their harsh breathing and her humming as his speed began to pick up. He grabbed her hips to pull her back against him as his own swiveled and pumped.

Each plunge had Michonne howling louder.

Rick dipped his hips and reached her unbound breasts and pulled her closer as he gave the outer shell of her ear a long lick, "Yesss, that's it, keep screaming for me and tighten that pussy," he whispered in her ear, nudging her locs over to dip the tip of his tongue inside. "Keep those hands on the wall and kick that leg out of those panties and open wider," as he slowly ground into her.

Michonne didn't hesitate. She pinched the corner of her underwear with her toes, pushed them down to her foot then flung them across the room, enabling her to widen her stance as Rick's pumping became more forceful.

She sucked in a loud breath.

"Take a hand and rub that juicy clit of yours." He didn't ask nicely, he commanded and Michonne complied. Her smaller cries became louder moans and then turned into a high pitch keening as he ground and swiveled into her.

Rick's loins began to tighten with pleasure, his enjoyment increased with the knowledge that his Michonne submitted to his will without so much as a fuss. "Are you enjoying my cock, Michonne? Cause I'm enjoying this pussy."

He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her neck. "How'd I get so lucky? Meeting you has been the greatest thing to ever happen to me," he pulled her closer as his hips continued to rotate.

While he continued to pump anticipating them both reaching the pinnacle, Michonne pushed them further from the wall as she leaned forward until she was bent over. "We were meant for each other, Rick. Whatever you give me, I can take it. Just like you can take what I got for you." As she rubbed herself, she kept sneaking feels of his cock plunging deep inside, then reached further back and grabbed his balls.

"What are you doing? Ahh, let me go!"

She squeezed his sack firmly while he kept going…the blood rushing to his engorged cock had him past the point where he couldn't stop. Her steady squeezing whenever he slid deep quickened his urge to cum and he wasn't ready to stop yet.

He grabbed her waist and lifted her in the air, pulling her off her feet. Using only his upper body strength he pulled her up and down his cock. "You're not gonna make me cum yet," he said as she yelped in surprise. Her hands whipped up to balance herself against the wall. He let her feet touch the floor while reaching his hand around to pinch her clit, causing her to scream out her orgasm. "You will cum as many times as I want before I do. Ya, hear me?"

Her death grip on his dick brought Rick up short. One, two, three pumps and he was about to blow.

"Oh, no you don't!"

Rick laid his head along her sweat-soaked back and rested, still full inside her. Michonne's hands still gripped the wall, trying her best to breathe after another mind-blowing orgasm. "You think I'm done? You have another one cumming, Chonne. I won't be finished with you for a long time."

He pulled out, garnering a protest from Michonne, but not for long. He whipped her around and grasped her by the waist and picked her up. "Wrap your legs around me," he commanded.

When she complied, he plunged back inside, her wetness making it easy. "I'm home," he sighed before clamping his lips on her again. Michonne's arms came up to wrap around his strong neck as he pushed her back against the wall. Holding her up with pure strength, he rolled his hips as he fucked her.

Michonne tightened her legs around his waist and gripped her hands on his shoulders and gasped, "Oh Rick, more… harder."

He gladly obliged. Holding her waist tighter, he pulled back so only the top of her shoulders made contact with the wall and they both watched as he plunged in and out of her. "That's it, Chonne, rub that pussy for me, show me how much you love this dick."

Michonne felt a pounding pressure building for her to blow her brains out in pleasure once more. She reached down and let her finger graze the hardened clit that peeked out from its hood as Rick continued to pound in and out of her. He started to growl and pulled her off the wall, then turned around to lay her across her new soft mattresses, removed his jeans and threw them in a corner before mounting her. Once she was settled, he spread her firm thighs and continued to fuck her into oblivion. After she came again, she thought that was it, she would be able to breathe again and bring her heart rate back down to normal. Wiping the sweat from her brow, it dawned on her that Rick was still hard and hadn't made a move to leave.

She looked up into his face and his azure eyes were now glowing, "Oh, I'm not done." Her eyes widened. Deep inside, she was giddy with glee. She'd never had a lover who made her come so many times she was about to blackout, except it felt so good, she could keep going all day. Though she did feel guilty, Rick hadn't released once and now she felt selfish.

"Lay on your back." Her command had him pulling out and following the order without a fuss.

_'What?'_

She didn't think he would listen because he was in command before, but he did. While quietly staring at her, he lifted his body off her and lay flat on his back. Michonne got up and sat on his waist and slid her hands under his sweat-soaked shirt. "You've had me naked from the start and you still have some of your clothes on. That's not fair, Rick." She ripped his shirt open, the buttons flying everywhere.

"Mmm," she hummed, "now it's my turn."

She slowly rolled her naked pussy on his muscled abs as she fondled his flat nipples. She plucked them and pinched them as she lolled her tongue around in his mouth, breathing in his clean, earthy scent. Her hips continued to move and slowly inched their way down until she was slipping and sliding all over his still hardened cock.

He growled again before locking her hips still and plunging inside in one sweep. Michonne sat up and rode him for dear life. Her orgasm was not far off and she would be damned if he didn't cum this time. "You are going to cum for me, Rick." She lifted using her thigh muscles until the tip of his cock was just outside her entrance, then she plunged down, swallowing him whole. Each plunge had her whipping her hair back over her shoulders and her breasts bouncing with each pounce.

She could see Rick fighting the inevitable, his eyes squeezed shut and his mouth formed in a tight grimace. Forcing the narrative, she reached and grabbed his ears, grinding her hips as she did so. Squeezing her inner muscles, she twirled her hips in small circles, "I see it in your face, Rick. You're gonna cum for me, aren't ya baby?

He opened his eyes.

"Yea, I can feel it building. Let it go, Rick. Let it go so I can drink." She went back to lifting her hips, allowing him to see what was happening.

Finally, Rick's eyes could no longer focus on her face. The site of his dick disappearing inside this exquisite woman and her dirty words had finally become too much. The pressure had been building and building and he could no longer hold it back. He flipped her over and with her yelp, his hips pistoned to bring them both to their final destination.

Lifting up on his knees with a shaky hand, he greedily watched as Michonne hurried to sit up and take the dick he pulled out of her to push the tip inside her wide-open mouth sucking him in.

Rick howled as he pumped his release into her warm cavern, her throat muscles tightening around his head.

"Damnit, Chonne!"

Michonne moaned in exquisite pleasure as his semen filled her mouth to flow out the sides and run down her chin.

"Oh, fuck!"

Rick pulled himself slowly out of Michonne's mouth, his sweaty form collapsing next to her side. Both trying to catch their breaths, Rick wrapped his body around hers, his head resting against her chest. He whispered, "You're mine, Chonne. You and Andre and nothin' won't ever stand between us. Anyone that gets in the way of that, is gonna lose." He let out of sigh before promptly falling asleep.

* * *

**_Very early the next morning…_**

Rick and Michonne woke up early, still in each other's arms. "Good morning, Sheriff." Rick's head lay on her chest. She could fill his lips moving, trying to pull a nipple into his mouth. "Ah, ah, ah… we got a lot to do this morning. Namely cleaning up after that party, find out why there's a hole in the fence that let those walker's in, and the expansion."

Grumbling, Rick sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He gave her a kiss, "Guess I'm not the boss anymore, huh?"

She laughed, "Only in the bed, Rick. Only in the bed." She ran a hand through his curls and got up. Picked out some clean clothes after she pulled on the slip from last night, "Come one. Let's go take a shower before everyone wakes up."

Rick got up and threw on his pants, "So, what do we do from here?"

She didn't have to ask what he meant. "Well, you're moving in here and Andre can bunk with Carl." She put a hand on her hip and gave him a knowing look, "But you knew that when you gave us this room, didn't you?"

Not wanting to beat around the bush since she was so straightforward with him, "Yup."

"I knew it," she laughed.

As they made their way down the stairs, he told her, "I wanna check in with Hershel a second to pick a time where we can talk about this breach." He walked over to the cell where Hershel slept and pushed aside the curtain that gave him privacy.

Michonne was right behind him.

As soon as he lifted the curtain, Rick yelled, "Holy shit!" and jumped back, almost knocking into Michonne. Before she could get out of the way, she only had a few seconds to glimpse a woman's back of burnished brown rising and falling on someone with pale, pinkish skin and a stump for a leg, "Oh my lord…"

The woman turned and saw Rick and Michonne hastily trying to back away and screeched to high heaven. Hershel sat up quickly and wrapped his arms around a distraught Jacqui, "Don't you youngin's know how to knock?"

**A/N: Inspiration came from Ginuwine's song, Pony and from Porky's. Terrible movie but during that time period, it was funny as hell. Please let me know your thoughts on this one. I really tried to put in the humor, and I need to know if it worked. Thank you all so much for reading.**


	7. Mending Fences

**A/N: Thank you all for sticking with me through this twisted journey. Your comments have me rolling and y'all uplift me with every word. I would like to give a shout out to **Beachgirl25 **for** **sparking an idea for this next chapter. Also, a few have made some suggestions concerning Sophia and you are absolutely correct, and it has been noted. Thank you so much!**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 7**

**Mending Fences**

**_Down in the laundry room…_**

Two figures, hiding in the corner, whispered low to keep the other residents of the prison from hearing.

Figure number one muttered, furious, "What do you mean you didn't hear that shit last night? It was disgusting. Neither one of them knows how to fuck."

Figure two shook their hands in the air and waved them wildly, "I told you before, those pills you gave me make me sleep through the night. I don't ever hear anything."

Pacing a few steps away before coming back, Figure number one grabbed number two by the shoulder, "Doesn't matter. Are you ready to go with the plan? They'll be going on that run tomorrow. You have to go and make sure they stop at the right place. I'm counting on you to get this done so we can both get what we want. Got it?"

Figure number two rubbed the shoulder that was beginning to bruise, "I got it. He really thinks he's getting back at me by fucking her. I'll show him."

* * *

**_The prison yard…_**

The day began as a chaotic mess. News spread through the grapevine about the newest couple and as people tend to do when they live in close quarters, they ask questions and make unnecessary comments:

_"Congratulations, you two!"_

_"How long has this been going on?"_

_"Did anybody see this comin'?"_

_"Do I call her 'Momma' now?"_

_"I didn't know Daddy could still have sex."_

_"Is everybody fuckin' round here?"_

_"I may not be in my prime, but I still got some wood in my pecker. How 'bout it, Carol?"_

_"Go away, Merle."_

_"I can't believe I saw Hershel's balls."_

_"Well, I saw Jacqui's ass. And, I see it runs in the family."_

"Rick!" Michonne playfully slaps at his elbow before Rick laughingly runs away from her to start working on the new building project. They were going to erect a fence around the creek that's used as their freshwater source.

It was located on the outside perimeter.

A hose pumped water up to the prison and consistently clogged every few days and someone had to go out and manually unclog it. Leaving them vulnerable to an attack.

After an incident where Carol was out cleaning the pipe, she didn't see a couple of walkers heading her way and would have been killed if Rick hadn't been around.

With fencing supplies from the megastore, Rick wanted to extend the fence so that the creek would be on the inside to keep the walkers from either attacking someone or one of them falling in, dying and tainting the water so close to where they extracted it. The plan was to build around the creek first then knock down the old fence.

Everyone worked together to repair the hole in the fence where the walkers got through the previous day and add more spike traps.

Rick and Michonne received a few side-eyes from the ones who heard the ruckus the night before.

It was late afternoon when Daryl and Merle returned, "We just got back from trackin' that trail. It disappeared a few miles from here, but someone was definitely comin' and goin' somewhere." Daryl adjusted his crossbow over his shoulder. "We'll head back out on foot early tomorrow morning. We might have missed something going by car."

He waved his hand toward the back of the prison, "Did a sweep around this place to make sure there're no more holes. The fence back there is fucked up…"

Merle jumped in, "It looks like someone took a bomb to the back of the prison when everything went down."

Rick caught Shane's attention and gestured for him to come over and join them.

Rick raised his chin and put his hands on his hips, looking toward the roof of the building, "Yeah, I saw that before. This is a huge prison and we cleared out what we needed. All the passageways to the backside are blocked but I knew we were gonna have to clean it all up one day." He put a hand on Shane's shoulder, "Now we have more people that are experienced we can work on that after we finish this fence."

Shane agreed, "We can take care of that, no problem. The more space I can put between those things and my family, the better."

Merle asked, "Anybody seen Randall? He used to be up in my ass all the time but now he's been sticking with that Mike." He pointed to where Mike was working, "He ain't with him now."

Rick narrowed his eyes at Mike and checked to make sure he was nowhere near Michonne or Andre, "I haven't seen him since yesterday." He turned back to his group, "When he shows up, let me know first thang. I wanna know what he and Mike have been whispering about."

* * *

Their talk finished, Shane went over to Tyrese, "Can I talk to you for a minute?" He led the gentle giant a little away from the others, so they couldn't hear.

Once Shane stopped, Tyrese gave the suddenly nervous man a questioning look, "Hey man, what's up?"

Shane wouldn't look him in the eye, he just rubbed his hand through his thick curls and kept glancing everywhere else but him.

"Hey," Tyrese put a hand on his shoulder to stop him from fidgeting, "Tell me what's wrong, Shane."

"I…uh… nothin's wrong. I… just don't know how to start. I've never done this before."

"Done what?"

Shane ran his hands down his face, took a deep breath and met Tyrese, eye to eye and blurted, "I wanna ask Sasha to marry me." He peeked around to make sure no one else heard him, "I ain't no church boy, so I don't know how to go about askin' her father for her hand. Well, he ain't here and you're her next of kin. And, I wanna make sure you approve of me before I ask."

Shane continued to babble, "You know what, I don't know why I'm doing this. She can do better than me. Why would she want to settle for someone who cheated with his best friend's wife and had a baby with her? I told her I was no good. I must be crazy thinking about doin' this. Forget it."

He was about to walk off when Tyrese's big hands grabbed his shoulders and stopped him, "Look, I may not know all of your business with my sister. Some things I don't want to know, but I do know she loves you. She loves all of you, the good and the bad. That stuff with Lori, that was you in the old world," he pointed his chin to where Lori stood cleaning her nails.

He poked Shane's chest, "This is you in the new world. I don't wanna hear no more shit about you bein' no good. Cause if you were like that, you wouldn't have saved my life when I went off the deep end trying to get into that garage. Michonne warned me that anger would make me stupid. I didn't listen and my stupidity almost got me killed. If you hadn't been there, I wouldn't be here today."

"I don't know, Ty. How will I know if she'll have me or Judith?"

"All you can do is ask, brother."

Shane took in a shaky breath and shook his hands out, "Yeah, you're right. All I gotta do is ask. I can't until I get her a ring. I thought about finding a married female walker, but that don't feel right to me and not good enough for my Sasha. They're going on a run tomorrow. People don't scavenge for jewelry, so there should be some nice rings left in there."

He took another deep, calming breath and blew it out, relieved, "Thanks, Ty. I'll go and tell Michonne I'm only there to help carry stuff. Please don't tell Sash my plan."

Tyrese laughed, "No need for all that son. Come with me." He turned and went back inside the prison. Shane followed him to his cell room where Ty pulled out and dug through the backpack Shane had seen him carry ever since they first met.

"I knew there was a reason why I held onto these. When we escaped from the city, I grabbed our parent's wedding set and kept it. They passed before the end and with me being the oldest, I got the rings in their will. Sasha doesn't know I still have them, but I'm sure she would be proud to wear our mother's ring. Especially coming from you." He pulled out a ring box that carried a matching men and women's diamond ring.

"You both will have to figure out a way to make them fit if they don't, but that shouldn't be a problem."

Shane took the box and stared at the rings, "Both? Do you mean, you're giving me the other ring?"

Tyrese chuckled, "Of course. Why would I give you just the one?"

"This is your dad's wedding band. Don't you want it for yourself?"

He chuckled again, "No. My baby sister deserves the best and you're a part of that best, with my father's ring."

Shane's eyes watered and hugged the giant man, "I don't know how to thank you, Ty."

Tyrese tightened his arms around him, "Don't thank me, just make my sister happy."

* * *

The work continued until the sun began to fall. The hole had been repaired and the fence half-completed surrounding the creek. Walker activity had been surprisingly light which had everyone relieved. The kids helped where they could. Eventually, they were sent back inside to find something to amuse themselves.

Sophia hung back behind the boys holding her dolly close. She felt awkward and stupid around them. Even Andre, who's a couple of years younger than her. Carl caught the sad look on her face. He slowed down until she caught up with him, "What's wrong, Sophia?"

They were all heading toward the break room where everyone met most of the time and had their meals.

She stopped and picked at her doll's raggedy hair, "I just feel so dumb. I can't fight, even though I wanna learn. But my mom is so scared I'll get hurt and everybody treats me like I'm a baby and can't do for myself."

Duane chimed in, "I didn't know you thought that, Sophia. I don't think your dumb and I don't think you're a baby. If you really want to learn, I'll have my dad talk to your mom. He's a good teacher. And, he knows how to use all types of weapons. From what Rick said, we're all a family now and family protects and looks out for each other. That's what we did yesterday… we protected the family and one day you will too."

Sophia shyly wiped the tear from her eye, "Thanks, Duane. I'd like it if your dad taught me. Then I won't feel so useless."

Carl broke the awkward silence, "Well, we can't do anything about it now. Everyone's working on the fence. We gotta figure out something to do."

Andre, the youngest of the group, decided to take charge. As they all marched into the commissary, he dragged them to the kitchen, "I know what we can do. We can make rice pudding for dessert tonight. My mom taught me while we were on the road. It's simple to make."

The crew followed him, and Carl asked, "That sounds like a great idea. What all do we need?"

Sophia, Duane, and Carl waited for the little tyke to figure out what ingredients went into rice pudding. Andre tapped his small finger on his chin, looking up at the ceiling, contemplating, "Hmmm… let me see. We need a big pot. Some milk, rice, sugar, and some raisins."

The three older kids set about finding the items. Duane looked in the cabinet and pulled out a stainless-steel soup pot. "Is this big enough?"

Andre inspected it, "Yeah, that should be good."

Carl found the rice. "This will make enough for everybody." He dragged a huge sack of rice out from the walk-in storage closet. "We sure lucked up at that store. We got everything."

Chef Andre gave further instructions, "Okay we need milk to mix with the rice in the pot. But we don't have a refrigerator, so we have to use water."

Sophia called out as she pulled out several packages out of the dry goods pantry, "Hey, we have powered milk. We can mix it with the water, and we got a bunch of different sugars. There's white sugar," she raised a paper package of cane sugar. Andre shook his head. Then she pulled out smaller packs, "Here's some in pink and yellow packets."

Andre wrinkled his nose, "Mmm, mmm, no, I don't think she used that kind."

Sophia huffed and put those back then pulled out a clear bag, "What about brown sugar?"

Andre clapped his hands, recognizing the one his mom used, "Yay! That's what she uses. Okay, Duane, we gotta mix the rice and the milk in the pot. I don't know how much to use."

Morgan's son who was the oldest and bigger of the gang took point on starting the fire. He placed a few pre-cut logs the adults made sure to keep stocked and using a long-stick match, he set it ablaze.

Duane put the pot on the wood-burning stove, "How about we do half and half?" Carl had taken the powdered milk from Sophia, grabbed a large pitcher and mixed it with water. He handed it to Duane to put in the pot and then grabbed the sack of rice. He then helped Carl hold up the bag of rice and filled the pitcher, then poured it in the pot with the milk.

"Okay, Duane, you have to keep stirring while we add the other stuff," Andre directed as Carl went back to the walk-in pantry and searched for raisins.

"I can't find any raisins but there's some other dried fruit we could use." They couldn't see him, but he stuck out his hand holding out a bag of something, "Here's some bananas."

Andre scrunched up his face, "Eww, no."

Carl pulled back his hand and scrounged for something else and walked out holding a bag of dried cherries. "I can't find anything else, but I think these cherries can be substituted for raisins."

* * *

Duane stood over the cooking pot, stirring. "The rice is starting to cook. Should we start putting the other stuff in now?"

Andre hopped off the table and stood next to the older boy and nodded. Sophia opened the bag of brown sugar, "How much should we use?"

None of them knew the answer so Carl made the call, "It's dessert, so it needs to be sweet. Put it all in." He took his bag of dried cherries and dumped it all in while Duane continued to stir. Andre went back inside the pantry and came out with a small container with brown powder.

"I think my mom uses this too," Andre handed it to Carl.

Carl took it from him to read, "Cinnamon?" He opened it and pulled it closer to his nose and snatched it back when he sniffed too much. He sneezed. "This is the stuff my Granny Grimes used to use in her pancakes." He opened it and dumped the whole thing in the pot.

All the kids took in a deep breath and took in the spicy aroma, "That smells really good," Sophia exclaimed.

Duane kept stirring until the concoction began to look like brown porridge with dark red flecks.

"Is it supposed to look like that?" Carl asked as he helped Andre up on a stool so he could see.

"I guess so. It's almost done. Mommy is gonna be so proud of us. We did this all by ourselves." Andre jumped down with Carl's help.

Carl bent down and told Andre, "I wanna talk to you about something." He sat down at one of the tables and Andre followed while Sophia and Duane continued to monitor and stir the pudding.

"So, what do you think about our parents getting together?"

Confused, Andre asked, "What do you mean, _get together_?"

Carl had to think, "Well, earlier today, Dad moved your things into my room and he's now staying in the room with your mom."

Excited, Andre blurted, "Does that mean they're married?"

Carl nodded, "I think so. And that means you and I will be brothers. I wanted to know if it was okay with you if I started calling Michonne "Mom". My other mom, Lori, doesn't seem to like me anymore. Ever since she had Judes, she kinda stopped talking to me and only seems to care about me when she's yelling at Dad. I like Michonne, she treats me nice and knows that I have to do things to survive out there and she doesn't try to stop me. She just makes sure I do it right or don't do something stupid. If you let me call her "Mom", you can call my dad, 'Dad'."

Andre rested his chin in his hand, thought for a minute then told him, "You can call her 'Mom'. My daddy stopped being my daddy when Terry died. I know he doesn't like me or my mom at all. Rick taught me how to shoot, even though I can't really hold it up on my own. He likes me and he likes my mom. He'd be a good Dad."

The boys said at the same time, _"They make me feel safe."_

Carl held out his hand for a high five, "Okay, that's what we'll do. We have to talk to Lori and Mike 'cause we don't want to hurt their feelings and we should tell them before dessert.

* * *

The evening was rolling in and Rick called it quits for the day. They made good progress, the hole had been repaired and the majority of the fence had been constructed.

Carol and Jacqui, Axel and T-Dogg entered the commissary first and began making dinner for everyone. Carol pulled out the rising dough she made earlier and took it over to the oven, "Duane I'm so glad you have the stove going already. What did you guys make?" She peeked under the lid of the now cooling pudding.

It didn't look too appetizing. "Smells good."

Duane gave her a hearty smile, "We made dessert." The rest of the kids gave their affirmations.

"You too, Sophia?"

The shy girl answered her mother, "Yes, Mommy. We all worked together." Sophia hesitated and Duane gave her a little elbow of encouragement, "Mommy… Mom, I want to learn how to protect myself." She raised her chin and balled her slim fists, "I'm tired of feeling helpless and letting everybody fight for me. Duane said his dad can teach me and I wanna do it."

Carol opened her mouth to respond and looked around at all the kids waiting. "I…I guess you can if Morgan says it's okay. I didn't know you felt this way, baby."

"It's my fault I didn't say anything, Mom. I also want you to train with me. You do a good job cooking and cleaning, but you have to be able to fight those monsters too. Duane says we're all family and we have to protect each other. We can't do that if we can't fight."

Jacqui listened closely to the mother and daughter talk. She'd been feeling more like a burden lately. How the men went out and did the hunting and majority of the fighting. Ever since she was reunited with her niece and her friends, her eyes were opened that women didn't need to stay in the role's society had set for them before the world ended. When they were on the farm, she, Lori and Carol continued on what they always did… the cooking and the cleaning and they never aspired to do more. Now that she had Hershel, it never occurred to her that she needed to be stronger for _him_. "I'm gonna join in that training too. I wanna learn how to wield a knife and shoot a gun to kill walkers or anyone else that tries to fuck with my family. And, we're gonna get Beth too."

Axel agreed, "Count me in."

T-Dogg gave everyone a happy gap-toothed grin as he pulled out the fresh ground-up deer meat Daryl and Merle hunted down that day. He put more wood in the stove to heat up a large cast-iron skillet. "Hell yeah, everyone should learn to do everything."

* * *

While everyone was leaving the field to get ready for dinner, Shane grabbed a hold of Sasha's arm as she was leaving, "Sash, can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Sure, babe. What's up?"

Shane gets down on one knee, Sasha staring on… puzzled.

"Sasha Deniece Williams. I love ya with all my heart. From the first day we met, you made me a better person, a better friend, a better man. Because of all that, it's made me into being a better father for my little girl. Now, I wanna work on bein' the best husband."

Sasha gasped.

"I know askin' you like this is crazy, especially during these times, but I wouldn't have it any other way. You accepted me even after knowing all the thangs I did. I'm askin' you now, will you accept me and my baby?

"I have to be honest; Lori will always be there because of Judith, but I promise she won't interfere with me and you.

"I vow to you today; I am forever yours."

He opened the jewelry box to show her parent's rings.

She gasped again.

"I talked to your brother before this and he gave his approval by giving us these. Now, I just need an answer from you and it's a done deal. Whaddaya say?"

He held up the box a little higher, "You're already the keeper of my heart, Sash."

Sasha's teary eyes stared down at Shane.

Already nervous, he just knew she was going to reject him, he stuttered, "It… It's okay, you don't have to answer right now. It's a lot. You probably need some time to…"

Sasha placed a hand on his lips to shut him up, "Shh… Of course, I'll marry you. If I can drag your ass back from near death, I can handle a baby and a whiny ex." She took the rings out of the box and made him stand up. "Okay. Let's do this. We don't need a ceremony. This is for us."

Her features became serious, "I love you, Shane Walsh. All of you. For your strength. Your straightforwardness. Your ability to listen and to apologize if need be. Even when you rub your head all the time," she laughed as he shyly ducked his head running his hands through his curls. She took her father's band and pushed it on Shane's fourth finger.

Shane reciprocated, "And, I love you, Sasha Deniece Walsh. Thank you for being my light in the darkness."

The silhouette of two forms sealing their bond with a forever kiss glowed in the fading sun.

* * *

Everyone not on watch duty, filed inside the commissary after a hard day's work for an evening meal of spaghetti with venison, garlic bread and the kid's treat of rice pudding. They all formed a line to fill their plates then went to sit on one of the many bench tables scattered throughout the room.

Now that their relationship had been outed, Hershel and Jacqui openly displayed their affection for one another.

Michonne was still mortified she saw the older man's balls.

The meal was excellent, and everyone had an enjoyable and relaxing time.

Except for you know who.

While eating Michonne brought up about her trip tomorrow. "Rick, remember when we talked about going back to the megastore for more food supplies?"

"Yeah."

"We're gonna need get more than what was discussed."

"Why?"

"Because someone didn't think about all the sex that's happening around here." She gave him an eyeful and then turned to look at Jacqui kissing on Hershel. Glenn and Maggie snuggling over their meal, and Merle and Morgan eyeing a clueless Carol. "Unless we want to run a nursery in here, we need to stock up. I just hope no one found that place yet."

Rick reached out and ran a thumb across her cheek and pushed a loc behind her ear, "Okay. If we need more, instead of you going tomorrow, I'll go after the fence is done. It should only take another day or two."

She grabbed his hand and kissed him on the wrist, "No, you finish the project. I want us to stay on schedule," before he could protest, "it's just a few more items. Sasha and Morgan will be with me. It'll be a quick trip. In and out. Then we'll come right back. No need to go anywhere else."

Chewing on the tip of his thumb, Rick acquiesced without too much of a fuss, "Okay, you take the SUV. It's our best running car and it's the biggest and the fastest. I know you don't use the gun much, but I want you to take mine. We got plenty of ammo and I want Oscar to go with you as backup."

She used the same voice when he opened the Warden's door the night before, "Yes, Sheriff."

Rick narrowed his eyes, "For that, I'm keepin' you up all night and you won't be able to leave until the afternoon," he warned.

Their heated glance was interrupted by Lori. "If you don't mind, I'd like to go. I know I've been a bitch and I just wanted to tell you I'm sorry. I've learned my lesson and I have a lot of making up to do. I've been practicing like you said, Rick, and I can protect myself and the others." She pleaded and then turned to Michonne, "I really want to go. There're some things that I want to pick up for Judith and Carl. I've neglected them long enough and I wanna make it up to them. I promise I won't cause you any trouble. I'll just ride along and keep my mouth shut. I really want us to get along and be friends… for Carl."

She looked back and forth between both of them, hoping they wouldn't say no. She needed to go on this run.

Rick looked to Michonne and she to him, then she gave a slight nod.

"Sure Lori, you can go. I'mma be blunt. If anything happens, listen to what Michonne tells you. She's more experienced and please don't do anything to cause any trouble. You know how dangerous it is out there."

Smiling bright, she got up, "I won't, Rick. Thank you… both of you. I promise not to do anything stupid." She started to walk away, "What time are we leaving tomorrow?"

Rick glanced at Michonne, "Probably late mornin'."

Michonne rolled her eyes.

* * *

Carol brought up the discussion of training those who were willing to learn. Several volunteered to be the trainers. Sasha and Shane showed up a little late and when they sat across from Rick and Michonne, she immediately spotted the matching rings. "Congratulations! What do I call you, Mrs. Walsh or Mr. Williams?"

Sasha laughed, "Ha-ha, funny, Chonne. We may not have gotten married in the traditional sense, but I am taking on the Walsh name."

Shane with a wide grin wrapped his arms around her shoulders and planted a large smacking kiss on her cheek. "Yeah, she likes me that much."

As the news spread, everyone got up from their tables to come over and congratulate the married couple.

Except for you know who.

Mike and Lori sat on opposite ends of the room. Mike glaring daggers at Michonne and Rick while Lori kept her head down. While everyone was congratulating the couple, no one noticed she didn't even bother to ask to hold Judith when Beth brought her down from her nap and handed her to Sasha.

Her father cooed at her and tickled her under her chin before turning back to Rick, "I don't know if anyone told you two but next time when y'all go at it, close the laundry chute in your room or stuff some socks in your mouths cause I think everyone heard you last night."

Mortified, Michonne hid her face under her hair and Rick blushed before shrugging, "Sorry, couldn't help it."

They didn't notice Lori clamping her lips tightly together as she listened in on their conversation.

While the dinner dishes were being cleared, Carl and Andre each paid Mike and Lori a visit. Mike got up and left and so did Lori after their discussion.

Afterward, the boys went and helped Duane and Sophia serve up their dessert in plastic bowls and delivered them out to everyone.

Before the group dug in, they took a moment to take in the aroma of the light brown concoction.

Michonne looked proudly at her boys and congratulated all of them, "You guys did a wonderful job! I can't wait to taste it."

Carl, Duane, and Sophia chimed in:

"It was Andre's idea. We just followed his orders."

"He said he got the recipe from you."

"He's the master chef."

Rick didn't want them to dismiss all their hard work, "Well, you all worked together, and I know it's gonna be great." When he lifted his spoon to dig in, so did everyone else and they all took a bite at the same time.

While the kids looked on eagerly for their parent's verdict. Everyone who tasted became quiet and kept a neutral look on their faces.

Michonne straight up lied.

With her mouth full and a little afraid to swallow the overly sweet and heavily spiced paste, she gave them a big ass smile, "Oh my god, this is _so_ good! I can't believe y'all made this." Her eyes watered a bit as she forced it down her throat and took a huge sip of water before taking another bite.

Everyone else followed her lead and gave the kids kudos and praise for doing such a good job. T-Dogg and Axel became proactive and started to discreetly toss small amounts in a bucket so they could bury it later.

Shane and Sasha picked up their bowls along with Judith, "Looks like she needs a nap. We'll see y'all later."

Carl calls out, "But you just got here."

Sasha goes, "Yeah, Judith is so sleepy, she won't get any rest with all the noise. This is wonderful by the way," she held up her bowl, "We'll see you in the morning."

Andre and Carl took their places on the bench across from Rick and Michonne. Rick had stopped eating and concentrated his unfocused gaze on the noxious mess, trying to figure how to get out of eating it. It was only until he felt a small pinch on his thigh from Michonne did he look up and realize the boys wanted something. "Hey! Y'all did a good job. Why are you starin' at me?"

Carl started, "Dad, me and Andre have come to a decision."

Michonne gave a small sigh of relief and put down her spoon so she could listen, "Oh, what decision is that?"

Carl explained, "We talked to Lori and Mike. We told them that even though they helped make us, we wanted you to be our parents."

Surprised, Rick asked, "Well, what did they say to that?"

Carl shrugged, "Mike said he didn't care, and Lori said something like, go ahead, I'll be begging to come back or something."

Andre spoke, "Well since you guys are married now and me and Carl are brothers, I told him he can call you, Mom. And, I get to call you, Dad."

Rick blinked and raised his eyebrows then turned to Michonne who did the same thing. "Uhm… boys, Rick and I, uhm… we're together now, but…"

Carl interrupted, "That means you're married, right?"

Michonne's mouth opened, at loss for words, "I… I- Rick, you wanna help me out?"

Rick put an arm around her, leaned over and gave her a peck on the cheek. When he straightened, he cleared his throat, "Boys, you are absolutely correct. Andre, I would be honored if you called me Dad."

**A/N: Now, before y'all get on me, lol, Lori, in canon, will always be Carl's mother. This is just my twisted take. Y'all know Carl was a little asshole when he was ten (on the show) Here, he just made a kid decision that fit the storyline. **

**If you're reading this, that tells me you stuck around, and I do hope you guys come back for the next chapter. **

**Some of you said, "the calm before the storm" … well, I think I hear some thunder in the distance. Have a great weekend and I would really be grateful and appreciative if you left a comment and let me know your thoughts. **

**Kudos to the ones that predicted the proposal.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	8. Mask You Sumptin

**A/N: Y'all have given me life with your responses to this story. I have to warn you, this chapter I'm aiming for a myriad of emotional happenings. You mentioned the quiet before the storm… here comes the lightning. Some NSFW and there will be conflict and violence. **

**You might see a bit of Frank Castle make an appearance.**

**This is way longer than my usual, but I didn't want to leave any major cliffhangers. Hope y'all don't mind.**

**As Samuel L. Jackson said in Jurassic Park, "Hold on to your butts."**

**Chapter 8**

**Mask You Sumptin**

Michonne awoke to the bright, early morning light shining in her eyes and her fingers tangled within Rick's curls between her thighs. Right on the cusp of an orgasm. His hands held on as her hips bucked with her legs thrown over his shoulders.

Rick didn't lie about keeping her up all night. That man had the stamina of a twenty-year-old. Thank god she was going on the run for condoms. Though Rick may be the energizer bunny, she had to constantly remind him to pull out because they definitely didn't need a baby right now.

His moaning brought her out of her thoughts. He was really enjoying himself right now. She had just recovered and the beginning of a second was about to start. She tangled both hands in his hair and began to guide him where she needed him most. He released one thigh to slide two of his thick fingers in her channel, causing her vocal levels to elevate. She quickly glanced over to make sure the laundry chute door was closed.

It was.

Leaning on one elbow, she partially raised up while keeping ahold of his head. Gyrating her hips, even more, she hissed as his fingers delved in deep while his tongue flicked her clit rapidly, "Oh god… I'm bout to cum," her voice shaking with desire, _"Riiiickkk!"_

Rick plunged his fingers inside at a faster pace while Michonne's fingers tightened in his hair. She tasted so good; he couldn't get enough. As she came, her juices flowed into his mouth and he worked fast to lap it all up. When she collapsed, he rose above her, spread her thighs and eased his cock slowly into her pussy. All the while, keeping his eyes on his love.

She had flung one of her arms above her head. The other, she chewed on the tip of her finger as he slid his fullness up to the hilt. "Ah, god… _yessss._"

Grateful for her flexibility, he spread her thighs flat on the mattress, opening her wide so he could watch his hard, full-blooded dick slip in easily into her brown-pinkish hole, her warm wetness glistening along his shaft and sliding down the sides of her labia. The sight alone almost made him lose his load. He shuttered on how her heated walls squeezed him each time he entered.

He could never get enough and would destroy anyone or anything that tried to get between them. Michonne may beat him up later for agreeing with the kids but he wasn't playing. She was his wife now, and he would do everything in his power to convince her this was a perfectly natural next step. No matter how fast it was.

The kids were spot on.

Michonne's loud, "Rick!", brought his attention back to his hips thrusting and his cock spewing cum… inside Michonne. He hurriedly pulled away as his jizz soaked the sheets between her legs.

Rick grunted, "Oh, shit!"

Michonne, breathless, stated, "It's a good thing I'm going on this run today."

* * *

Shane reluctantly handed his new wife into the passenger side of the truck. Tyrese beside him. Before getting in the backseat, Morgan waved goodbye to Carol with Merle standing right beside her trying to talk. She ignored both of them and went back indoors.

Oscar waited for Lori to ride bitch before squeezing in next to her and shutting the door.

Maggie ran up at the last minute, "I'm goin' too." She got in the front to sit in the middle next to Sasha.

Lori had a worried frown and she looked around searching for Mike. She wasn't expecting this many people to go. Especially Maggie.

Rick finally let go of Michonne after delaying their trip an extra half hour. Before she got in, he made sure she had plenty of ammo and handed over his Python. "Don't take any chances. Anything happens or anyone tries to fuck with you, you know what to do." He leaned in closer, his lips fluttering against her ear and whispered, "I have Oscar keeping a close eye on Lori."

Knowing that Rick was totally serious, Michonne nodded, "I won't. See you soon." He embraced her one last time before letting her get in the car.

* * *

Shane, busy digging a hole for the cement base to secure a metal pole, looked up to find Rick working close by, "Rick, mask you sumptin?"

Rick stopped twisting metal links together, "Yeah."

Taking his shovel and jamming it hard into the ground so that it stood straight, Shane leaned on it, "Why did you let me come back? I expected to be shot with your Colt."

Rick told him straight, "Michonne and Andre." He pulled off his gloves and went to stand near his friend, "That's most of it. But my feelings about what happened had changed over the past year. I actually forgave both of you. If it hadn't happened, then I wouldn't have been ready for Michonne. I gotta thank you for that."

Shane chuckled on how right he was about Rick and Michonne. They were perfect for each other. He knew that the minute she cussed him out, grabbed him by the hand and made him face Sasha and tell her how he felt about her. She reminded him so much on how Rick guided him throughout their childhood. Rick was always the one to have insight on how he felt and made him face certain things he was too afraid to confront. When it came to brutality or using his fists, Shane had no problem but when it came to matters of the heart or emotional thangs, he ran for the hills.

Rick continued, "Let me ask you somthin'. It's been bugging me all this time. Why?"

Rick didn't need to elaborate. Shane knew what he meant.

Shane sat down on the grass next to the creek and looked around to make sure there were no walkers present before gesturing for Rick to sit in front of him. Just like they did when they were kids. "I used to envy you, man. You were perfect."

Rick blew a raspberry.

"No, for real, your life was perfect. You were admired and respected by the whole community. Clean cut, the polite southern gentlemen. You had the wife that fit _'the normal'_ standard," he held up his fingers quoting himself. "I don't know why you were best friends with me, the one who had a one-night stand almost every week. I damn near slept with every single woman in our town." He sighed, "I used to thank that was something to brag about. Anyway, before everything went down, I thought I would be happy because Lori was givin' me what she gave to you. I wanted to know what it felt like to live in the _'perfect'_ life. I still felt guilty as hell, but I didn't stop it. Lori even got me to shave every day and you know that wasn't me."

Rick chuckled, "It sure wasn't."

"I couldn't take it. Expected to be home for dinner at seven. Constantly having to call during breaks and then lunch. It wasn't what I thought it would be. I kept asking myself how the fuck you did it. That's when it really hit me. I wanted the _'idea'_ of what you had."

He rubbed the back of his head; a sad grimace took over his face. "You used to tell me about the problems you had but I just didn't believe you. From my side of things, how could anything be so bad between two perfect people?"

Rick chewed his bottom lip, "I was hardly perfect, Shane. Neither was Lori. Far from it. I was a little jealous of you because you were so free. Could come and go as you pleased, slept with whoever you wanted without consequences. Everybody's grass is always greener from the other side, you know."

"I know that now. You know, I was about to end it… with Lori. I couldn't take it anymore, then the world went to shit. The first thing I did was get to the hospital and get you out of there. I didn't care if you were still in a coma. I was gonna get the man I cared about more than anyone in this world out of that hospital. When I got there, the electric grid went down. The dead was walkin' and the National Guard was shooting everyone… alive or dead. There was chaos everywhere. When I got to your room, all your monitors cut off."

Remembering the fear that was going through him, tears began falling down his cheeks, "Rick, I swear to God, I tried everything, I didn't feel a heartbeat and I couldn't feel a breath coming from you. The shots were getting closer and I knew that Lori and Carl were all alone out there and if I could save them, then that would be a way for me making up to you for what I did."

He sniffed and wiped his face, and gave a humorless laugh, "I was wrong, cause you sittin' right in front of me… alive."

Rick chuckled, "Yeah, I'm alive alright. I am grateful that you went back and saved them. I can't thank you enough for that."

* * *

**_Thirty miles out from the prison…_**

Lori had been watching the road for the landmark she was supposed to keep a lookout for. As they rode down the highway, she spotted the large red barn. She put her hands between her legs, holding herself, "Oh my god, I gotta pee! Michonne can we stop here. I have to use the bathroom… bad."

Michonne peeked into the rearview mirror to see Lori squashed between Oscar and Morgan, bouncing around in her seat, holding her crouch. "We haven't been in the car long. Why didn't you go before we left?"

"I didn't think about it. I was trying to make a good impression on you by making sure I wasn't late. I'm sorry, but I really have to go."

Maggie spoke in a low voice, "Kiss-ass."

Sasha heard her and hid her chuckle behind her hand.

Michonne announced, "Okay, we'll make a quick stop. Before anyone does anything, make sure the area is clear. If anyone else has to go, do it now cause I'm not stopping again. I promised Rick this would be a quick trip. We get there, get what we need and then get back."

She looked around, "Everybody on board with that?"

Still bouncing, Lori agreed and so did the rest. Keeping an eye on everything around the barn, Michonne pulled in where they had the best visuals. Getting out, she removed her katana from the scabbard and made sure Rick's gun was secured at her waist.

She instructed Oscar not to let Lori out of his sight. He said he wouldn't, even when she pees. Morgan went with Sasha and Maggie stayed with her. They split to check out the outside of the barn. She didn't care what was inside, she just wanted to make sure the doors were secure. Lori could pee outside in a bush, no need for her to go in.

As soon as the other four were out of eyesight of each other, Maggie and Michonne were startled when a gunshot shattered the quiet.

* * *

"You know Sasha taught this country ass boy some moves I have never even thought of doin'." Shane picked up a blade of grass and chewed on it while he faced Rick. "If the world hadn't changed, you and I probably would have been trapped in small-town mindedness forever." He threw the piece in his hand away, "Did you actually tell the boys you and Michonne were married?"

Rick chuckled, staring up at the unfinished fence, "Yeah, I did." His face took on a faraway look as he thought of his angel, "She just does something to me. I've never felt so protective, so… captivated by anyone in my life. It's like when I met her, a missing piece of me just fell into place. Two sides of a silver coin and all that."

And just like they did when they were teenagers, they gossiped, "Michonne makes me feel like we're creating something together in the bedroom. It's not like I had to fulfill some job or just have something to do. I'm not talking about being two wet blankets just lyin' there, either. She makes me feel strong like I can do anythin'. She makes me glad to give while she gives right back. You know what I mean?"

Nodding his head, Shane agreed, "I do. The other night proved it, wit yo loud asses. Can I say… Bravo! But please, Michonne is my sis and I don't need to be hearin' that. It's gross." He laughed; glad the alcohol that night triggered his funny bone instead of something else.

"It's the same with me and Sash when she slapped me in the face me during… you know and man, I tell you, it wasn't a fuckin' insult… that shit got me hot. Remember when I was doin' it to Betsy Burke at that hoedown and she slapped me, and I accidentally kicked her out the window? You had to come pull me out before the cops came?"

Rick burst out laughing, "I've never seen you so mad. She left a handprint on your face."

"Right, she said she was into kink and slapping me while busting a nut was supposed to make me cum harder. That shit hurt so bad; my dick went limp." He leaned an elbow on his knee, "I never let another woman ever touch me like that. Then came Sasha. She gave me this look when we stared in each other's eyes and I just felt this urge. I told her to hit me and fuck did I almost blow a hole in the condom. Her hands on my face, my body… just anywhere near me makes me lose my shit."

Rick had never seen such reverence on his friend's face, "You really love her, don't you?"

Shane wiped the moisture from his eyes as he nodded, "Without her, I might as well not be here."

"Same brother… same."

* * *

Michonne with her katana and Maggie with her pistol walked cautiously around the corner to find Morgan and Oscar sprawled on the ground, not moving. The barn doors were wide open where she could see Sasha inside.

She didn't see where Lori went, and there was no time to search for her.

There was another man dressed in military fatigues laying limp near where Sasha was fighting off another similar dressed attacker. Her gun was on the ground out of her reach, but she held her own. The man went to swing, she ducked and used the heel of her hand to break his nose.

Michonne rushed over to rescue when more men converged on them. One of them stepped behind Sash to subdue her, Michonne pulled Rick's python and blasted him before he could get close enough to grab her friend.

Several people came up behind her and Maggie. Maggie was able to get off one shot, wounding Randall in the leg. Michonne holstered Rick's gun quickly and swung her blade to fend off the heavyset blond from grabbing her from behind. Both of his hands went flying through the air.

It all happened so fast; Sasha was grabbed by an arm snaking around her neck. She struggled to get the goon to let her go but to no avail.

Maggie, who rushed ahead, was ambushed and hit in the back of the head with a shovel, knocking her out on the barn floor.

Michonne swung and decapitated dude with the shovel, unaware that someone up in the loft was pushing a large bale of hay down on top of her. She looked up just in time before it hit her. Luckily, she raised her hands to block most of the damage, but the heavy weight knocked her unconscious.

Everything went quiet as the men, let out a sigh of relief the fight was over. They had never encountered women who could fight so fiercely and kick their asses. The one with the sword did the most damage. Billy and Craig lay dead because of her. Alfred would soon be dead because both his hands had been chopped. The cutie brunette put a bullet in Randall's leg, and the short chick with the thick hair busted George's nose and she knocked the fuck out of Ralph.

A pale, scared woman came out of hiding in one of the stalls, "Is it over?"

Randall was busy tying a belt around his injured leg, "You weren't supposed to have this many people with you, bitch."

Another tall man made an entrance into the barn, wearing a tan vest, a gun holstered at the front of his waist, surrounded by several other men. "Now, now, Randall. No need to be rude to the beautiful young lady. I'd say she did more for us than was asked for. Three feisty women when I was only expecting two. That's a bonus." He went over to a still frightened Lori. He put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "You've done a great service. Lori, right?"

Looking around, not sure what was happening but felt flattered the man called her young and beautiful, Lori nodded. "That's right. It's Lori. Who are you?"

He chuckled, "Where are my manners. I'm Philip Blake and I run a community not far from here called Woodbury. Everyone calls me the Governor, cause I'm the boss." He turns to his men and points to all the bodies lying around, "Check them and see who's alive and who isn't."

They followed his orders. Ben, the youngest of all his men reported. "The women are breathing. This one," he pointed to Oscar who'd been shot in the head, "he's gone but the other one is only passed out."

Phillip turns to Randall, "I've seen him before, you know him?"

Randall grimaces in pain before answering, "Yeah, that's Morgan. He's not really a threat. Thinks all lives are precious and goes out of his way not to kill. Plus, he didn't see anything. Ralph knocked him out before he knew anything was going down."

Phillip put a hand on his gun and straightened his shoulders, "Right, he seemed like a do-gooder when I met him. Well, I don't want him working for me. Tie him up and stick him in the car with Lori here. As for the women, gag 'em and put them in the back of my truck. They will make a great addition to my troops." He stopped them when his men were picking up an unconscious and gagged Michonne, "My Nubian queen. She's fire! This the one with the sword in Mike's group? She caught my eye the first time I saw her. I knew I was going to run into her again without her posse. Got the short one, too. Never saw the brunette before but she's got some spirit in her. I like that. You did well."

Randall nodded.

"Mike more than made up for my pharmaceuticals. Give me her gun." When got it in his hands, he looked the Colt Python over, "This is a nice piece, it'll look good on my mantle."

Ben asked about the sword, "What about her other weapon?"

"I don't want that anywhere near Michonne. I saw the damage she can do with it. I'll get another one for her once I turn her to my side. Send the sword back with the woman, she needs proof the others are dead. Randall, I trust you can give Lori her instructions on what to say to her people."

Randall replied, "I'll make sure she knows what to say."

With that, he followed after Maggie, Sasha and Michonne's comatose forms as they were placed gently in the large cab of his truck. Still eyeing the Python, he checked to see if it was loaded. Since it was, he aimed and shot the one soldier who dumped the haybale on Michonne's head. "That's for being stupid and almost killing my recruit."

Lori nearly screamed at how easily this man killed one of his own people. A limping Randall grabbed her by the arm and directed her to the SUV while a few of Phillip's other men carried an unconscious Morgan and stuffed him in the backseat. "When you go back, tell Rick and Shane that you made a pee stop and you were ambushed by walkers. Tell them how bravely everyone fought but there were too many. Only you and Morgan made it. Make sure they know Morgan fell and was knocked out and you held the walkers back while the rest were killed. Give Rick the katana. He'll know she would never let it go if she could help it. This is proof she's dead."

Shaking with fear, Lori got in the driver's side, her mind numb. Randall slaps the roof of the car, startling her out of her daze, "Lori! You need to get this story straight. Don't tell them about these men or mention the Governor. It was all the walkers. After things die down, tell Mike his debt is paid in full. Got it?"

Lori looked up to his face, "Ye-… Yeah, I got it. Wait… you're not coming back to the prison?"

Randal scoffed, "No. I'd be stupid to be in the same place as Rick when he thinks his woman is dead."

That scared her, "Maybe I shouldn't go back."

"Rick won't do nothin' to you. You are his wife and the mother of his son. You, of all people, would be the last one he'd hurt."

Believing that to be true, Lori started the car, reversed out of the barn's lot to head back to the prison.

* * *

Rick, Tyrese, and Shane were finishing up the rest of the fence when the SUV came rolling at full speed up to the gates, barely coming to a stop before it could ram through. Carol and Glenn stopped killing walkers to run over to open them to allow a solo frantic Lori pass through. Rick ran to meet her at the top of the hill where she came to a screeching halt. She hopped out of the car, clutching Michonne's katana and babbling incoherently.

"They're gone! They're gone!"

Shane was right behind Rick and the first thing he noticed, there were several people missing from the car, namely his wife. "What tha fuck you mean, they're gone? Where's everybody?"

Rick couldn't take his eyes off the katana in her hands, "Why do you have Michonne's sword? _Where the fuck is she?_"

Most of the residents came out of the prison upon hearing the crew had returned and all their faces turned to horror when they saw it was only Lori in the car. Crying with her hands everywhere, she frantically paced while Rick and Shane tried to comprehend what the hell was happening.

Lori wailed, "We just made a quick stop and then there they were."

Rick grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her, "Where _who_ were?"

"Walkers attacked," she spoke with a sob.

Glenn checked around the car, hoping he would find something, "Maggie?"

Lori just shook her head and all three exclaimed, "No!"

Shane got in her face, "You're lying. What the fuck did you do?"

T-Dogg happened to look in the backseat and saw a comatose Morgan laying on his back. Grabbing everyone's attention, "Look… Morgan!"

As shit was going crazy in Shane and Rick's minds, the simple function of getting Morgan out of the back kept them from entirely flipping out. Hershel had joined the group along with Jacqui and examined him after Rick and Shane pulled him out and laid him on the ground. "He's unconscious, but he's alive." He turned to Rick and Shane and knew from the look on their faces, he needed to calm things down before the biggest freak-out happened.

"Noah, Beth… get the kids and take them to the library. They don't need to hear or see any of this. I'll let you know something as soon as we get some answers. Tyrese, T-Dogg, grab Morgan and take him to the infirmary so I can get a better look at him. Jacqui, take Lori inside and we'll talk calmly so we can find out how this happened." He prayed he stayed as calm as he sounded. Glenn didn't look too good and he could feel the panic start to take a hold of his own body.

Hershel took a deep breath before standing with his cane and went over to Rick and Shane who looked like they were about to start an all-out war, "You two!" He spoke loudly, "We need to find out what happened. I can't do that if you guys don't calm down enough to get the answers." He settled his crutch under his arm and put hands on both of their shoulders. He closed his eyes, "Come on, let's talk to Lori." He pushed them to go follow Jacqui trying her best not to strangle Lori as she guided her inside.

Rick and Shane hung out pacing in the corners of the room. Both antsy to run out, jump in the car and go find their women. The others were scattered around the room, still not believing the unbelievable happened. Hershel sat in front of a still spazzed out Lori, "Now tell us exactly what happened.

She gave them the story Randall told her to give. "We made a bathroom stop and then all of a sudden, walkers were everywhere. Everyone tried to fight them off but there were too many." She squeezed out more tears as she spoke through a stuffy nose, "I tried Hershel, I tried. I had to help save Morgan while the rest kept fighting. He somehow fell and hit his head. I was able to keep the walkers off him and get him inside the truck." She raised her shaking hands to push her dark hair back. If she were an actress, she felt she would win an academy award. She was able to convey fear, hurt… panic. Her tears came easily, and she was able to keep her voice shaking while retelling the lie.

Rick and Shane went still as they listened to her tale. The urge to rush to the car gone.

Rick walked around Lori sitting at the table and took a closer look at Michonne's weapon. "How were you able to get Morgan in the truck and where's my gun, Lori?"

Not expecting the question, Lori had to switch things around in her head. She cried frantically, "What? I had to drag him and put him in the back seat. Michonne had your gun on her when she was attacked by a lot of walkers. She dropped her sword when they became too much and they began biting her." She wailed even louder.

Hershel, Jacqui all winced at Lori's description.

Except for Shane and Rick.

Shane went and tapped Hershel on the shoulder for him to get up. He sat down in front of Lori; a dark look had taken over his features. Lori, sniffing, wasn't sure what was happening. She looked around for Mike. If this didn't go as planned, she would not be going down by herself.

Rick picked up Michonne's katana and pulled it from its sheath. "You said you all were attacked by walkers?"

Lori confused. "Yes, we were. Rick, I just told you we were attacked. Why do I feel like I'm being interrogated?" She turned to a quiet, menacing Shane who just watched her.

Rick slid the blade slowly down in front of her, she could see her own face reflecting through the brownish-red coating the metal, "There's fresh blood on this sword, Lori. You wanna tell us again what happened?"

Shane slammed his fist on the table, forcing Lori to jump. He reacted quickly and grabbed her by the throat, pulling her forward, forcing her to look at him, "You will fuckin' tell us what the fuck happened, or I swear to God, Lori, I will kill you right where you're sittin'." Horrified that he would say that to her and touch her in that manner, she took offense.

Trying to shame him, Lori's hands flew up to snatch his hand off her, but he was too strong. "How dare you speak to me that way and you have the audacity to put your hands on me."

Shane sneered, "The time for being polite to you is over, Lori."

While pulling unsuccessfully on Shane's forearm, she looked frantically around for Mike again and Rick caught her.

"Who you lookin' for Lori?" He looked around and the only person missing from the room were Randall and Mike. Randall hadn't been back, and he had a good suspicion why, so there could be only one person. Rick caught Shane's eye and gave him a short nod. Shane understood. He snatched his hand off her neck, stood and grabbed Lori by the arm, none too gently and dragged her through several sections to the prison's old holding cells, equipped with a table and chair.

The rest of the group followed.

Glenn who handled all the keys knew what Shane was doing and hurried over with them to lock the door once Shane threw Lori inside.

"What are you doing? You can't do this to me!" She shouted as she grabbed the bars.

Rick ignored her. "Hershel, something else happened. They're not dead. I'm going to go get Mike. Take care of Morgan and see if you can get him to wake up and get his story." To everyone else, "Somethin' ain't right and we will figure this out." He left to go to the sleeping quarters, "As soon as I talk to Mike."

* * *

Michonne came slowly out of the dark. She didn't move or make a sound for fear one of her captors might realize she was awake. She did a self-assessment to see if she had any broken bones. Nothing was broken but she had a massive headache. She listened closely, she could feel she was in a room, not in a car, and she could feel others present in the room with her. No one smelled dead, thank god for that. Some of the people in the room were moving around and talking quietly amongst themselves, that told her there was no enemy standing over her ready to bash her in the head again. She slowly peeked out of one eye and her assessment was correct.

A few other women were tied up and laying on the floor around her. She opened both eyes and saw they were being kept in someone's office and Maggie and Sasha were the ones whispering. She lifted her head and her friends noticed. With their feet tied and their hands secured behind their backs, they lay and wiggled their way over to where Michonne lay.

Sasha reached her first and whispered, "Thank god, you're awake. We were getting worried."

Michonne looked around. Two other women just sat there, wary of the newcomers and not daring to speak. "Where are we?"

Maggie answered, "I don't know, but I heard someone mention this was the Governor's place. Some men in military clothing have been taking a few women at a time out of here and they never came back."

When Maggie said the governor, a piece of the puzzle fell into place for Michonne. "We're in Woodbury. That son-of-a-bitch set us up."

Michonne studied her binds, "Well, we're getting out of here." From behind, she felt around the hem of her leather vest and felt the hard, flat metal shard she kept there for emergencies, "Have you talked to anyone else in this room?"

Before Maggie or Sasha could answer, the two dark-haired women scooted over and spoke low, "We were thrown in the room right before you got here." The younger one spoke, "You got a plan? I wanna go with you because I'm ready to say bye to this place and light a few sticks of dynamite before I go."

Michonne looked at the girl strangely as she worked the shard out and began using it to cut through the ropes holding her hostage.

Sasha kept a lookout for anyone coming through the door. "I counted ten men on the other side. No telling how many there are in total."

Michonne looked closer at the other women, "Has anybody seen Lori?"

Sasha growled, "She's the reason we're here. As soon as we came around the corner, she took off when they shot Oscar. Then someone bashed Morgan before he could even lift his stick. I was fighting one of them off when you came. Michonne, Randall was there, too. Do you think Mike might have something to do with this?"

Michonne, cutting away, shook her head, "I know he has everything to do with this. Him, Randall and Lori. When we get out of here and if they aren't dead yet… they will be."

* * *

Before Rick left to go get Mike, he held out his hand and Shane automatically gave him his Glock. He found Mike where he expected. Laying on his cot, in his cell reading a book. Rick opened the cell door wide and raised his arm, "Get up."

Mike lowered his book, saw the gun aimed at him. "What's your problem now, Rick? You got the girl. You took my boy. What else you wanna take… my book?"

Rick didn't say anything. He only tilted his head, pulled the slide back as he cocked the gun.

Understanding Rick was not in a playing mood, Mike dropped the book, raised off the cot and put his hands up. As he walked in front of him, he asked, "Where am I going, Rick? I hope you don't plan on killing me after you got everything you wanted."

Rick pressed the barrel to the back of Mike's head, "Shut the fuck up until we get where we're goin'."

It finally dawned on Mike that if he made a wrong move, then Rick would really kill him. Something must have given them away. The plan was to commence when Michonne went on that run.

_'What the hell happened?'_

He walked where Rick told him to without another word. The ex-sheriff's loud footsteps echoed behind him. The intense air around them felt thick and Mike's adrenaline began to spike when they bypassed the common areas on down to another part he'd never seen, located further back inside the prison. _'Was this it? Is Rick finally going to kill him now? Is he a dead man walking? Is Michonne waiting wherever Rick was taking him to finally get her revenge?'_

Morbid thoughts of his eventual demise flitted through Mike's mind. His steps faltered at the thought of Rick shooting him in the back of the head.

"Keep goin'." Rick's voice was deep with a sharp edge.

Mike began sweating and asking himself should he make a run for it.

After going down steps and through several hallways, he saw Tyrese and Glenn standing next to a solid metal door with a small window. When they were spotted, Glenn used the prison keys to open it up and Rick pushed Mike from the back to go inside. It was dark. The only light came from a barred window high up on the wall.

Rick growled, "Sit."

* * *

It was getting dark inside her holding cell. Only the sun's beams poured in through the bars high up on the prison's walls. Lori wondered what was going to happen to her as she sat in the near gloom, trying to think of things to say to get herself out of this mess.

The prison had never been so quiet, and her fear escalated as she heard footsteps coming closer until a figure stood outside her cell door.

Lori was dismayed when she recognized a grim-faced Shane was the one to come back to her cell, alone. The jail keys jangled loudly as he unlocked her prison door. He gestured for her to sit at the lone table and chair situated in the middle of the small room. He wore his black, long-sleeved Henley shirt with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows. A tactical vest that was armed with knives, his guns, and the pockets looked full of other weapons she had no clue what they could possibly be. The hems of his dark BDU's were stuffed in the upper part of his military boots, the laces tied all the way to the top.

Shane looked like he was gearing up for combat and she knew she was so fucked.

She sat down. The table between her and her interrogator. Shane stood looking down at her. His position of standing in front of the sun's rays kept his entire frame in shadow with only a halo of golden, iridescent light spilling around him.

Lori had never seen Shane like this before.

He didn't say a word as she watched him pull a long bowie dagger out of the sheath at his waist. He slowly placed it on the table facing her. Lori's wide eyes were glued to the pointy tip as Shane placed his hands on the table, leaning on his knuckles. His voice gravelly, "This is what's gonna happen. You're gonna tell me everything you know," he touched the handle of the knife, "one way or the other."

Lori began to cry.

"It won't help you, Lori." His Adam's apple bobbed as his voice went deeper, more menacing, "You've gone too far for that to work on me. Look at you, your head is still held up high like I won't gut you like a fish if I don't get what I want."

Lori protested, "Shane, I didn't do anything. Everything I said before was true. How could you be like this with me? We were in love." She wiped the tears from her face as she tried to appeal to the old Shane, "Look, I understand you were mad at me for what happened. But I was scared when I found out Rick was alive. So scared I turned it into anger and put it all on you. I would have eventually come to my senses. It's always been you that I loved."

His finger still caressed the bowie's handle, "I get it, you had me hooked before and strung me along so that I went against my brother for you. But you did me a favor when you dropped me as soon as Rick showed up, setting me free for who I was meant to be." He picked it up and slid the blade across the table, scoring a line in the metal's surface. It's sound grating against Lori's ears.

"Why don't you just tell me where they are?"

"I told you, they're dead." She went to get up from her chair, "I don't have to sit here and listen to this shit…"

She froze in her seat with terror when Shane gripped the handle and slammed the blade through the metal, _"WHERE IS MY WIFE!"_ He roared.

* * *

Mike looked back to make sure the man was talking to him to see Rick pointing at the bench. Once he sat down, Rick handed the gun to Glenn, came in and closed the door behind him.

Next, Mike heard the jangling keys lock them both inside. "Now, you're gonna tell me who kidnapped my wife and the others."

Seeing that Rick no longer had a gun to shoot him with, Mike felt brave and scoffed, "Oh, she's your wife now? As far as kidnapping, I don't know what the fuck you're talkin' about."

As soon as the words came out of Mike's mouth, the shorter man grabbed him by the scruff of his collar, threw a fist back and clocked Mike in his jaw. The blow knocked him into the wall. Mike bounced off but came back with a blow to Rick's stomach.

That didn't stop Rick. Barely bending over from Mike's weak punch, Rick lowered his right, grabbed Mike by the throat with his left and swung again, growling out his rage, "You son-of-a-bitch!"

Mike had no time to reflect how hard he was hit because following his fist, came Rick bodying him as he fell to the concrete floor.

_"Where's Michonne?" _

Rick punches with his left.

_"Where's Sasha?" _

He hits Mike with the right.

_"Where's Maggie?"_

Rick clocks him with the left again.

_"Where's Oscar?"_

Nails Mike again with the right.

_"What the fuck did you do to my wife!?"_

Rick drills him with both… fist over fist.

Mike was able to ward off the first couple of blows but with the lighting-fast hammer-blows to his face and the questions, he couldn't prevent Rick reigning down on his helpless body in a blind fit of fury.

Mike saw black while Rick could only see red and neither heard the keys opening the door and Shane flying in to grab a hold of Rick, pulling him off an unconscious Mike. "It's okay, Rick. I know where they are… shh, shh, I got you, buddy."

Rick whimpered, the rage flowing through his body wanted him to go back and make sure all the life had flown from Mike's bones. His face was flushed, sweat poured down his face in rivets. He shuddered as he tried to catch his breath and calm down.

It wasn't working.

Shane grabbed him by the back of the head, pulled out a cloth from his back pocket and wiped his brother's face clear, "I got Lori to talk. She told me everythin'," he spoke calmly, "She, Mike and Randall set up Michonne and Sasha to get kidnapped by someone we met on the road before we found you at that megastore."

Neither one checked the status of Mike, who still lay there bloodied and battered while they talked. Rick, taking in more ragged breaths crawled his way over to the bench and pulled himself up to sit with Shane's help. Glenn stood in the doorway, anxiously waiting to hear more news about his girlfriend, Maggie.

Hunched over, Rick took the rag from Shane and wiped his eyes. Anger making his hands shake as he scraped his hair back from his forehead, "Who has them? And, how many?"

Shane settled on his one knee with a hand on Rick's shoulder to support him, "He goes by the name, Governor. Some sanctimonious creep who acts like some fuckin' king of the world. He runs a community surrounded by a wall made out of old tires. He's got twenty or so wanna-be paramilitary skanks workin' for him. He gave us a tour of his town and all I saw were people who didn't know how to survive on their own and relied on this prick to keep them safe. The dude asked us if we wanted to join. I didn't like how he took an interest in Michonne and Sasha and they didn't like it either. The only one that wanted to stay was Mike."

Shane got up and stood over Mike's body, "Michonne told him he could stay if he wanted to but the rest of us were leaving." He nudged him with his foot, "The fucker was too chickenshit to stay with strangers, so he left with us."

Glenn asked, "I don't care who they are. When are we leaving?"

As Rick listened, his heart rate began to calm and he began to think, "As soon as we gear up. We're going.

He stood and walked out the room past Tyrese and Glenn with Shane behind him. Glenn went to follow then turned back, "What about Mike?"

Rick didn't look back, "Fuck 'em. He's dead, anyway."

**A/N: So, this was a lot and I thank you all for staying with me this far. What do you think? Has Shane been finally redeemed in your eyes? Did Mike and Lori finally get what was coming to them? The Governor is here. I appreciate all comments so please let me know your thoughts.**

**See you next week.**


	9. Gear Up

**A/N: Thank you all for coming back! That was a little rough, huh? I appreciate all your comments. Let's find out how Michonne and gang handle their predicament, shall we?**

**I'll be hopping from scene to scene and I pray I make this cohesive for you.**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 9**

**Gear Up**

**_Woodbury…_**

They all kept an eye on the door in case someone came in. The women immediately looked to Michonne as the de facto leader of their group. No one knew what the Governor had in store for them and none of them wanted to stick around to find out.

Michonne crept over and put her ear to the door and whispered to Sasha, "How long has it been since the last woman was taken out of here?"

Sasha leaned in closer, "I'd say about an hour ago."

Michonne shook her head, "They probably thought just tying us up would be enough. Must not be too bright because they left us in a room full of weapons to use on them."

She heard footsteps coming closer, so she shooed the rest of them back to sit down on the floor, placing their hands behind them and draping the loose ropes over their ankles.

Michonne had just settled when the door opened. In walked a blonde woman and three others behind her. Each of them dressed in a white jumpsuit and all of them armed. Michonne didn't recognize the backup team but she had met Andrea before. They just didn't stay long enough to get to know her.

Andrea made her way toward Michonne with a gun pointed at her. She didn't notice Maggie who sat with her back facing everyone. "Get up. You're next to meet the Governor. I don't want to have to shoot you, but I will if you don't cooperate."

The rest of the women kept silent as they watched Michonne, who didn't cower as a gun was pointed at her face. The calmness in her features kept them from panicking.

Michonne asked, "What does your Governor want with us? He asked us to stay before but we refused, what's the reason for all this?"

Andrea had been asking herself that same question ever since she found out his plans for bringing Michonne and Sasha into the fold. Thinking back, brought how she ended up here in Woodbury in the first place...

_The Governor found her when the walkers attacked the farm and separated her from the rest of the survivors. It was a good thing, too. After Shane had left, Rick refused to even entertain getting with her even though he had divorced Lori. She tried everything to get his attention and he wasn't biting._

_Maybe Lori had spoiled him from ever getting into another relationship again._

_When Michonne and her group showed up, she was surprised to see Shane. He barely even looked at her. Seemed like he had something going on with that Sasha. It stung he didn't want a piece of her. However, where one opportunity was a bust, another sprung in its place. _

The Governor had a string of ladies going in and out of his door and she wanted him exclusively. That meant whispering lies in those other girl's ears, finding out what Phillip liked in the bedroom and persuading him to let her be his number one because they were one and the same. Even though half the shit he did, she found disgusting.

Phillip eventually gave her what she craved. The D wasn't the best, but it was something. He made her the leader of his own personal bodyguard. It came with perks of getting the best of the supplies after his soldiers came back from a run. She was staying with him in their own luxurious apartment separated from the others in the community and he didn't hold her back from using the guns whenever she wanted. It mattered not if she accidentally shot one of the guards.

None of them would dare go against the boss's girlfriend.

If she could get away with it, she would shoot Michonne and Sasha right now. Except, he's expecting them so he could turn them to his side. She knew exactly how he's gonna do it.

He'll tell them that the people they were living with were all dead, perhaps from a walker attack. He'll provide proof they're gone. Thanks to Randall who'd been sneaking clothing and personal items from that prison where they were living. Once they accepted they were on their own, they will gladly fall in line and do what the Governor wants.

She's seen it happen many times with men _and_ women. That's how he'd been building his community and pretty soon, he'll name himself president and if she follows along, she could be his second in command, Vice President Andrea Naise.

Andrea wasn't too happy that Phillip had been talking about Michonne and Sasha for months after they left Woodbury. She didn't understand what was so special about them and why he was obsessed with having these two women join their community.

She tried to argue he didn't need any more female elite guards. She and the other three were good enough. They sucked and were poor fighters and she didn't need any competition. It was all window dressing anyway. He just wanted to show off in front of his community and to anyone else who discovered Woodbury.

If he recruits Michonne and Sasha, then she might as well say goodbye to all the perks.

While Andrea stood there thinking, her aim lowered a fraction. Michonne took the time to study the other three. Their guns were holstered. Two of them were fidgeting, acting nervous. The other one, clearly with a new black eye, was staring daggers at Rosita, the one who offered to blow up Woodbury with dynamite.

She turned her attention back to Andrea, "Well, you gonna answer? What does he want?"

Andrea trying to figure out what all she could tell them and not mess up the Governor's game, lowered her gun even more and when she went to open her mouth, she was interrupted.

"Andrea?"

Maggie heard a voice that was very familiar and turned around and raised on her knees to see clearly who was in the room with them. There was her missing fellow survivor, Andrea Naise, holding a gun on Michonne. "What are you doing here and why are you kidnapping people?" She asked.

Surprised to see Maggie, all Andrea's attention turned toward her bound friend and off Michonne.

That was a mistake.

Michonne, with her already freed hands and loosened bands on her ankles had been waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. With a slight nod to Sasha, Rosita and Sherry, she jumped up quickly when the gun turned from her. She grabbed Andrea's wrist putting the weapon's aim out of reach and clocked Andrea on the side of her head with her fist.

The same happened to the others. They pounced. Doing their best to keep the noise at a minimum.

The two nervous ones went down without a fight. They fell to the ground and pulled themselves into a ball, whispering how they didn't want to be involved and that they give up.

The one with the black eye was more bitter and tried to best Rosita. It didn't last long. Rosita kicked the girl soundlessly in the stomach and when she bent over, all it took was the dark-haired woman's knee to her face and she was out for the count.

"I told you before, you try to come at me again, I was going to knock your _puta_ ass out." Then Rosita spat on the woman's comatose body.

With two of their captors laid out cold and the other two cowering on their butts, Michonne and the ladies set to work.

They tied up and gagged all except for the ones who were on the verge of crying hysterics. Maggie felt pity for the younger of the two, "What's your name?"

Shaking with fear, she sniffed, "Tara. Look, I'm sorry. I didn't want to do this. I don't even want to be here. I'm new and I had nowhere else to go after all my family was killed. I didn't know they were kidnapping people, I thought he was being nice and helping out fellow survivors."

Sasha tells her, "Well, now you know."

Michonne, tying the rope tight around a gagged, passed out Andrea, "What are you gonna do about it, now that you do?"

"I don't know. I don't know where else to go. Are there other communities out there?"

Maggie assured her, "Yes, there are others. We just don't know where they are but they're out there and not like this." She waved her hand toward Andrea and the Puta.

Michonne stood after she was finished and dragged Andrea to the far side of the room. Tara and Karen who were cooperating, walked over and sat next to the two who were knocked out.

Michonne asked Tara, "I know you don't know me, but we don't want to cause anyone any harm. Unless it's the Governor and Randall, the person who lived with us and set this up. Will you tell me where he lives? Where do you keep your weapons? They took our guns and my sword, and I want them back."

Not worried in the least about giving information, Tara gave her anything she asked for. Michonne grabbed a piece of paper and asked the woman a few more questions before leaving to get to work.

Maggie, Rosita, and Sherry began looking around the room. Michonne grabbed one of the chairs from against the wall and placed it under the doorknob. She saw that the door itself opened inside the room, so if she could find some sort of wedge, it would stop whoever was on the other side from getting in.

"Okay, we don't have much time. Check around the room for anything you can use. We're going out that window. Maggie, see if you can see what's out there, what floor are we on and if we can get out that way. I'm gonna make something to help keep this door shut."

As the rest went about searching for something to fight with, Michonne went digging in the desk drawers and closet. She thought again how the Governor must be awfully stupid to put prisoners in an office that had scissors, paperweights and a set of golf clubs stored in a closet. She found some cardboard and some D batteries.

Perfect.

She quickly tore a piece into a rectangle, wrapped it around two batteries, leaving one end flat. She'll wait till they are ready to leave before sticking it in the door because she didn't want anyone to see it just yet. All the ladies grabbed a heavy club. Sasha took the scissors; Rosita took several ballpoint pens and Sherry grabbed a heavy desk statue of a Greek archer and tied it to her waist.

Maggie took a six-iron and gave everyone the skinny on the window while Michonne finished with her door wedge, "We're on the first floor. I was able to open it without alerting anyone. Looks like we are in a house and there's a wall of tires behind it. I didn't see any lights, so we can sneak out and take cover in the dark."

"Okay, sounds good." Still keeping her voice low, "Everyone have a weapon? Good. Stand by the window and if someone comes in, get ready to run." She slowly slid the wedge under the door, listening out for any of the Governor's goons noticing he cardboard.

Not a sound came from the other side.

She turned to the now gagged women watching her, "Once we get out of here and you want to live somewhere other than this place, come find us. We'll take you in."

Michonne grabbed her own nine-iron club and led the way out the window. She waited till everyone was out before silently shutting the window back. Then they went around the back and hid in the shadows to figure out their next move.

* * *

**_The Prison…_**

Lori, after many bouts of crying and screaming for someone to let her out of her cage, sat on the far end of the bench, cradling her bandaged left hand. Beth was kind enough to give her some bandages through the bars.

After Shane pulled out her pinkie fingernail to make her confess, she knew everything was all over. She needed to get out of there. If she knew anything, Rick and Shane were on their way, right now, to go rescue Michonne and Sasha and if they get back and she's still in this cell, she's as good as dead.

She needed to talk to whoever they left in charge but the only ones to come see her was Beth and Noah and that was only to give her the wrap for her finger and something to eat.

While contemplating, she looked up to see a small figure standing at the side of the bars.

"Carl?" She hopped up, happy to see her son. She reached her arms through the bars to get a hug from him, but Carl stepped back out of reach.

"Carl? What's wrong, baby. Please, your mommy is being treated unfairly and I just want to hold my son. You're still my son. I was just upset earlier. I didn't mean what I said."

Carl just looked at her.

"Can you help me? Do me a favor and go get your mommy the keys so I can get out of here."

Carl's young, sweet voice echoed quietly in the hall, "Did you hurt my mom and Auntie Sasha and Auntie Maggie?"

Lori drew back in surprise, "What? Of course not, sweetheart. I could never do anything like that. It was all a misunderstanding. Can you please go get me the keys? I need to take a shower and change my clothes. I promise, if you let me out, I will be the best mother you've ever had." If she could convince him to get the keys, she could escape and not look back.

Carl took another step back, "No, I heard what you said to Uncle Shane. You're lying. You did something bad and just like you told me before if you do something bad, you need to be punished. I'm not letting you out." He turned and walked off.

Lori screamed for her son to come back.

He didn't.

* * *

**_On the road…_**

With Shane giving the directions, Rick, Tyrese, and Glenn had geared up and were on their way to Woodbury.

Tyrese asked, "Where's Daryl and Merle?"

Adjusting his brown, suede leather jacket, folding down the fur collar, Rick answered while driving, "Most likely still tracking Randall's trail. If I'm right, they should be close to Woodbury by now. That'll be extra back up for us. Shane let me know when we get close. I want to go in on foot, find out where Michonne's kept and then surprise those fuckers."

Glenn, in the backseat, was making sure all the guns were loaded, "We should have enough firepower to give them a good run. Maggie better be okay."

An impatient Shane kept his eyes on the road, "We should be getting close. Good thing we have the dark to cover us."

Rick agreed, "Yeah, I'm glad it's dark. But it doesn't matter, I'd be going in anyway."

Tyrese who was helping Glenn in the back asked worriedly, "Are you sure they'll be okay back at the prison? I know Mike and Lori are locked up. I just don't trust them now after finding out what they did."

Looking out the window observing their surrounding area, Shane told them, "Hershel and T-Dogg know how dangerous they are. Mike won't be causing anyone any problems for a while, 'cause Rick fucked him up and Jacqui will make sure Lori doesn't pull any shit. They all know not to unlock the doors and to only feed them."

Rick added, "T-Dogg is experienced, and Axel can use a gun. Morgan should be on the mend. Jacqui and Carol got a quick lesson on how to shoot so they should all be covered, and they know how to hide within the prison if someone shows up. They'll be okay."

Glenn, after snapping a clip in his gun surprised everyone when he said, "First thing I'm gonna do is shoot that fuckin' Randall.

* * *

**_Woodbury…_**

"What's that?" Michonne asked Sherry as they hid behind another building down the way. It probably won't be long before the Governor discovers they're missing.

"Oh, someone left some wrapped candy in the office. They're tootsie rolls. Want one?" She offered up several pieces in her hand.

Sasha reached out and plucked one out of her hand, "I'm hungry. Sure."

Michonne took one, "I could eat."

Maggie and Rosita grabbed one as well.

There were a few sentries keeping watch and a couple that walked the community's streets.

The girls kept to the shadows and worked their way behind buildings, looking for a place to lay low where they can plan their next move.

Looking around the corner of the house, Michonne spotted what looked like a closed storefront. She whispered between chews, "Hey, we need to get from out of the open. That store looks like there's no one inside."

They heard a twig snap in the distance. They stopped. When nobody came out shooting, they all kept low and kept behind buildings to make their way to the place where they could hide and figure out what to do next.

The women from the prison learned that one of their new companions had some skills. The back door of the building they needed to get into was locked. Rosita had brought a few paperclips from the room they escaped from. In less than a minute she picked the lock and all of them snuck inside with a sigh of relief.

They settled low in the middle of the room where they could keep an eye out on both the front and back of the store. Sasha whispered, "Looks like no one sounded the alarm yet."

Rosita asked, "What are we gonna do now?"

Michonne, not speaking to anybody, in particular, growled in a low tone, "I want my sword and Rick's gun back."

"Well, if we're gonna do it, we should go find to the munitions building first," Sasha told them. Michonne reached in her back pocket and pulled out the piece of paper from back at the office.

"I had Tara give me the directions to the Governor's office. She said he keeps his prized possessions in there. First, we need to hit where they keep their weapons. If we can block their access, the better for us."

Rosita piped in, "If I find some TNT, I'm gonna blow it up."

That got the rest of them shaking their heads and Sasha telling her, "You're a feisty one, aren't you?"

Rosita, busy tying her shoelaces, "Those fucks kidnapped me from friends I was traveling with," she sighed, "I hope Abe and Eugene are at least worried about me, if not looking for me."

Michonne assured her, "I'm sure they are and when we get out of here, we can help you look for them if you want."

Sasha asked Sherry, "What about you? Got any people?"

Shy, Sherry tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, "Yeah, my husband, Dwight and my sister, Tina. After everything we've been through, they probably think I'm dead and have moved on."

Michonne got up and head for the backdoor, "We're gonna stay positive. Let's get out of here, follow the plan, then we'll decide what happens, after." She waited for everyone to get behind her before she cautiously opened the backdoor slowly, the 9-iron gripped in her hand, ready to jab anything if they happened to be standing there.

Not seeing anything immediately in front, she opened the door wide enough for all the girls to walk through until they all stood on the path behind the building.

The sound of quiet footsteps was coming toward them and before they could scramble back into the building… Michonne nearly bit back a gasp.

* * *

**_On the road…_**

Rick took one hand off the wheel to caress Michonne's sword which lay across his lap, wondering if she was okay and he should have followed his instinct about Lori. He just couldn't believe she would do something like this. When he gets Michonne and the others back home, Lori and Mike have got to go.

"We're close, Rick. Pull up behind those trees and we can walk from here." Shane checked his weapons and made sure his knives were in place. He had put on a dark army jacket over his BDU's and brought his shotgun.

It didn't take them long before they saw the walls made of tires. They used the abandoned cars that were sitting and parked haphazardly around to hide their approach. Rick could see guards posted near the top of the entrance gate and they made sure not to get too close. Making their way along the sides, they looked for an opening where they could sneak in.

As they crept far around toward the back, they heard someone call out softly, "Incoming." Shane and Rick halted, and Rick put a hand out for everyone to stop moving. Next thing to happen, a body fell to the ground in front of them. A man lay lifeless with an arrow in his head. Then they heard someone approach. It was Daryl coming from out of the woods that covered the west side of the community.

"Y'all lucky I saw him before he put out the alarm," he said as he put his foot on the man's sternum and reached down to pull the arrow out.

Rick whispered, "Are you just now getting here?"

"No, me and Merle have been scoutin' the place for about an hour. He's on the other side. Probably takin' out guards as we speak." He gave them a break down on the changing of the guard's schedule. How far to the lookout, their skill levels and how many would they have to deal with.

Impressed with Daryl's reconnaissance mission, asked, "Well, how are they?"

"They kind of suck. Me and Merle got right up close to them and they never knew."

"Do you know where they're keeping Michonne, Sasha, and Maggie?" Tyrese asked while trying to see through the walls.

Daryl reloaded his crossbow, "No. I haven't seen any of 'em, but I saw Andrea walkin' around in white with some other chicks dressed just like her. It was creepy like they were some Stepford wives or sumptin."

Rick nodded and turned to look through the gaps between the tires and accidentally stepped on a small branch. It's snap, loud in the air. He wasn't worried because the folks inside would assume it was probably one of the walkers that roamed outside the walls, "Okay. First thing, we gotta get in there and find someplace to lay low and look for the girls. Tyrese, folks are gonna get hurt and it won't be us. You okay with that?"

The big guy pulled back from looking, "No, Rick. I don't. I only ask that we keep a cool head and make sure we don't hurt any innocents. As for the ones who took the others and put their hands on my sister… they're already dead to me."

With Tyrese's declaration that he had no problem fuckin' up the Governor and his men, they all peeked through the tires.

Shane was the first to whisper, "Well, I'll be… is that?"

They could hear Rick's smile coming through in his voice, "Yes, it is."

Glenn backed up and began pulling on one of the tires, "Come on. I'm ready to get in there."

Shane held up his fist to Rick, "Let's go get our girls."

* * *

Michonne slapped a hand to her mouth to keep her gasp of joy from being too loud. Sasha had tears spring to her eyes at the sight and Maggie did a little hop for joy. Rosita and Sherry figured everything was alright because the ladies weren't trying to fight.

Rosita exclaimed with a hint of interest, "God damn… that's hot."

Maggie, Michonne and Sasha spoke at the same time, _"Taken."_

Out of the darkness, several figures appeared, walking slowly toward them. Two boldly strolled at the front of the group, both wore dark, mid-length coats meant for murder. (yeah, I know that line was cheesy ;))

Their gait was easily recognizable:

Murder-coat brown prowled forward with his one-foot-in-front-of-the-other bowlegged boot-stomp. Carrying a samurai sword as the moonlight bounced off the suede of his jacket, the white of his wool collar standing out in the dark night.

The Punisher in black kept pace with his own stalking swagger, carrying a shotgun, his military field jacket bulking at the pockets weaponized with lord knows what.

The ladies waited for their men to reach them at the back of the store, each significant other hugging in relief. Michonne quickly gave a report on what happened to them and they all agreed that the Governor and Randall needed to uckinfay ieday.

Rick handed Michonne her sword and explained quietly how he got it. She handed over the plans that showed the way to Phillip's office. They decided to break off in teams. Maggie told Glenn about Tara and Karen, how they were victims too and wanted to release them. Seeing that his sister was safe and with Shane again, Tyrese decided to help free the two women.

Merle joined them and reported that he saw the Governor and his other goons. They were at some fighting event on the other side of the community, if they were gonna do something, this was a perfect time. They figured that must be where Andrea was going to take Michonne.

They needed to hurry.

Rosita announced that she wanted to go to the munitions building and if she can find any explosives, she wanted to set the place on fire.

Daryl and Merle agreed and went with her.

Sherry, uncomfortable around these strangers, even though they rescued her, decided she was leaving and wanted to go find her husband and sister. Rick gave her gun, some bullets and sent her on her way.

That left Rick, Michonne, Shane, and Sasha to pay a visit to the Governor's office to retrieve Rick's gun and anything else they could find.

After everyone went their separate ways, Rick imparted to his group, "Well… let's find out what he's got."

* * *

**_The prison…_**

A few hours after her son abandoned her, Lori looked up when the sound of keys began rattling in the cell door. Two people stood there, one holding a kerosene lamp, the other, holding a gun… on her.

"Get up."

Lori had never heard Beth's voice sound so dark and so threatening.

Noah held the lamp higher to illuminate Lori's face. "Wha… You're letting me out of here?" sounding very relieved.

Beth answered, "Yes, we're letting you go. You did some terrible things, Lori. We've decided that you no longer deserve to live here or Mike."

Noah chimed in, "Ya see, Michonne and Rick are good people and their kids are good too and if you or Mike are still here when they get back… they will kill you. They shouldn't have that blood on their hands. It's not fair because they'll have to look in the eyes of Carl, Judith, and Andre every day."

Beth tilted the gun for her to get up. Noah picked up two backpacks that were sitting on the floor next to him.

"Follow us."

Noah led the way while Beth kept the gun at Lori's back.

Scared they were going to shoot her, Lori asked, "Are you going to kill me then? Just so Rick and Michonne won't have to?"

Neither answered as they made their way out of the bowels of the prison, out into the courtyard and down by the entrance gate. As she came closer, laying out in the field was a tied up Mike. Noah opened the gate and told her to go on through. Once she was several feet away, he threw bags at her feet. "Inside is some food and water. There's a change of clothes for you. We've also given you two knives to protect yourselves."

Beth kept the gun on them, "Use the knife to cut him free and you are both to leave here and never come back. This is your last chance, Lori. If we ever see you again, you will be shot on sight."

Noah closed and locked the gate and they waited till Lori went through the bag, found the knife and stumbled over to where Mike sat there starring daggers at the teenagers. When he was free, he began stomping toward the gate, "You cannot put us out here. We won't survive on our own."

Noah raised the pistol he had holstered on his side, "You should have thought about that when you hurt our family. Now get to walking before I shoot you right here and now."

Mike did an about-face, grumbling and picked up the other bag. He went through it and pulled out the knife they had given him and began walking away. Lori scrambling after him.

Beth yelled, "Don't even think about trying to sneak back either. We can see all around this place and T-Dogg has a sniper rifle."

Noah and Beth made their way back to the prison to find Hershel and Jacqui waiting. "Is it done?"

"Yeah, we gave them the supplies and they're gone. We made sure to watch them go down the road. What if they try to come back?"

Jacqui answered Noah, "You told them what would happen if they did."

Beth nodded, then she asked, "Momma Jacqui… Daddy, are you sure we should have let them go?"

Jacqui ran a reassuring hand down her blond hair, smiling, "Yes, baby. Rick and Michonne would kill them when they get back. We don't want them to have the guilt of killing Carl and Andre's parents on their conscious." She looked out to where they last saw Mike and Lori and everyone else followed her gaze, "This world will take care of them, soon enough."

Hershel put a supporting arm around Jacqui and told the kids to go get T-Dogg and Axel so he could tell them to keep on the lookout if they try to make their way back to the prison.

He'll also go to the infirmary and let Morgan know since he woke hours ago.

* * *

**_The betrayers…_**

"Will you stop that fucking crying. Don't worry, I know how to get to Woodbury and the Governor will help us. We'll get back to the prison and we'll kill them all."

Mike adjusted the bag on his back, took a tighter grip on the knife and kept moving forward.

Lori dried her tears, thinking of different scenarios on how she was going to get revenge on all of them if this Governor hasn't killed them first.

**A/N: Thank you all so much for reading and please excuse my choppiness of this chapter. School has started and I had two new kindergartners to deal with, but I wanted to get this out in time.**

**Some of you called it, lol. Yes, the girls got themselves out, that's what they do. And, they met some familiar faces.**

**Dangit, Mike, and Lori were let loose. I wonder what's gonna happen next. Hope you enjoyed and I really appreciate all your reviews and comments. I greatly look forward to reading your thoughts.**


	10. What Tha

**A/N: Hello Readers! Thank you all so much for coming back and I loved, LOVED your comments on the last chapter. I really had a great time trying my best to redeem Shane. I brought some of you over to Shane's side. For the others… I got you at least to think about it and that's good enough for me :)**

**Well, this is it. The last chapter and I really hope you enjoy and leave your thoughts. **

**Thanks again for making this a joyful time for me.**

**Yelle**

**Chapter 10**

**What Tha…**

**Woodbury…**

It was still dark in Woodbury and before the dawn when the survivors from the prison split up and went on separate missions. Glenn, Maggie, and Tyrese were to release Tara and Karen from the office. Daryl, Rosita, and Merle left to search for the munitions building.

Michonne, Rick, Sasha, and Shane, followed Tara's map bringing them to a large apartment house on the far side of the community. It was left unguarded and they easily slipped inside.

With the door closed shut behind them, Michonne told them, "Tara said he keeps all his important and prized possessions on the second floor." Sasha and Michonne took the lead. Right at the top of the stairs was a door. On the landing, Shane and Rick, with their Glocks, stood on either side while Michonne slowly turned the knob and opened it slightly. All waiting to hear if someone were inside.

When there was no alert, she opened it further and discovered a luxurious apartment with wood paneling, light beige walls, wide-open windows, and pale carpeting. The main room was an open space that included a sitting room spreading into a very modern kitchen. A marble island surround by expensive-looking stools separated the two areas.

Shane made sure the door was locked and secure from anyone busting in while they looked around.

Further back were several doors and the group needed to find out what they contained. Before doing any deep searching of the front area, they needed to check the rooms for any unwanted intruders before going any further. The first door they came to was a large bathroom and the second was his bedroom.

It was people free, so they moved on.

The third room seemed to be used as some sort of storage and on the other end was another door. After confirming the apartment was empty of enemies, they started digging through the many boxes, bins, and crates sitting on large, metal shelving units.

Michonne and Sasha began digging through the ones painted with the red symbol, The Rod of Asclepius. Inside, they found every sort of pain medication they would ever need: Morphine, codeine, hydrocodone, methadone, and ibuprofen.

They hit the jackpot when they also found several different kinds of antibiotics: Amoxicillin, penicillin, tetracycline, clindamycin, and doxycycline.

Both of their eyes lit up in excitement. "Hershel will be so happy to see these," Sasha exclaimed as she pulled around her backpack and began shoving in the pill bottles. Michonne followed suit while also gathering the hundreds of unopened packs of Ortho-Novum birth control pills. They had expired but she knew well most medications were still effective after their expiration date. _(don't y'all follow this)_

"We definitely could use these," she said as she stuffed more in her bag.

Sasha chuckled, "Who knew getting kidnapped would end with us robbing the asshole."

Their conversation was interrupted by Shane's loud cheer, "Oh, ho! Look what we got here." He was going through a medium-sized box and pulling out smaller, colorful ones.

Rick walked over and asked, "What we got?"

Shane practically buried his head down inside, digging deeper and throwing some out, "Where're the bigger ones? I can't do anything with this little shit."

As they continued to fill their bags, Michonne and Sash gave a puzzled look to each other.

Rick began helping to dig through the same box, "No good." He began reading what was on the small package and threw it on the ground. "I can't fit these." He tossed another one behind him and it landed near Michonne. She reached down and picked it up. Sasha grabbed a corner of the box and pulled it toward her to see what the big deal was.

She tsked and rolled her eyes, "I can't believe y'all."

He and Shane basically jumped for joy when they found what they were looking for.

Shane was grinning from ear to ear, "Now this is what I'm talkin' about!"

They were like two kids waking up on Christmas morning. The ladies just stared as Rick and Shane stuffed their own bags with boxes and boxes of brand new unopened packages of Trojan condoms.

Rick chuckled with glee as he found another box, "This one is all Magnums and they're ribbed!" He held it up for her to see.

Michonne, shaking her head, turned away from the giant grin on his face, "Oh, good lord." She asked Sasha, "This is what we're gonna get every time these two are together?" Sasha leaned to the side and looked around Michonne to find Rick and Shane doing a happy dance as they found more condoms in their size.

"Looks like it," she chuckled.

Shane sidled up to Sasha and grabbed her in a bear hug, showing her how many presents he got. Rick gave Michonne a peck on the cheek, "Yup, you get to see Frick and Frack in action. Working together as cops for so long, we tended to get a little…"

"Goofy?"

That's not how he thought of it, but he acquiesced, "Yeah, under tense situations, we tend to get a little goofy."

She wrapped her arms around his waist, "So where did Frick and Frack come from?"

"It's just a name given to us by our teachers in high school. You know, from always getting into trouble. If you found me, you'd find Shane and vice versa." He sighed as he settled more in her arms, "Sometimes, it's hard to believe we went through all that shit with Lori." That made them both think about what was going to happen when they got home.

They were brought out of their melancholy when Shane let go of Sasha and went looking through more boxes. "There's not much else in here except a bunch of vegetable oil. Why the fuck is he hoarding that?" No one had an answer so they packed more of what they could fit in their bags and went to explore what was behind door number two.

Shane cautiously opened and then stepped into the room where it's walls were covered with pitch-black stucco wallpaper. His mouth fell open, "I don't believe this shit."

Michonne and Sasha went in and came to a halt and stood on either side of Shane. Michonne's hand whipped up to her mouth in a gasp and Sasha quickly covered her eyes as she sputtered, "I think I'm gonna be sick."

Rick, behind them and keeping an eye out for anyone coming in, tried to see what was in front of them, "What? What is it?"

Shane's voice was quiet with disgust, "That Governor is one nasty sum' bitch." Rick made his way around Michonne and almost threw up from what he saw.

The large room could only be described as a BSDM dungeon from hell. In the middle of the dark painted space, sat a leather-bound St. Andrew's cross with silver spikes along its front edge line. Splashes of greenish-black goo were smeared all over it and its drippings were down on the floor, dirty flogging equipment sat in metal bins on the table beside it, but it wasn't just the cross that captured their main attention and disgust.

It was the several walking corpses chained to the far side of the wall. Two males and two females. The flesh tone color of their skin told them they hadn't been dead long. They were dressed in lingerie and speedos, their hands were covered with tight leather gloves and each of them wore masks similar to Hannibal Lecter from Silence of the Lambs. Rick assumed that it kept the walkers from biting whoever was into this shit.

They had been outfitted with different sized colored wigs. Long wavey hair in ash blonde and brunette for the females, and a red strawberry shortcut for the males.

The group inched closer.

Shane and Rick took in their state of dress, then to the cross and then over to the waist-high table with stirrups and then looked behind him and gestured at his bag, "Maybe we shouldn't keep these now."

Shane nodded his agreement.

Though her expression was full of disgust from what she was seeing, Michonne put out a hand and stopped Rick from emptying out his bag. "No, we need these and they are unopened and unused. Just because he's one sick bitch, doesn't make me want to throw away something that's vitally needed."

Sasha backed up Michonne's argument, "Besides, do you know how lucky we are to find '_Magnums_'. Otherwise, y'all's dicks would have to choke."

Everyone turned to her and clamored, "Sasha!"

She shrugged, "What? It's true, little rubbers would squeeze their pee-pees to death."

Michonne chuckled, "Good lord, you're just like them." She pointed to Rick and Shane before moving toward the closest female walker, released her sword then stabbed it in the head.

Shane leaned over and whispered, "I'm glad you acknowledged I got a big dick." Sasha didn't say anything except pursed her lips and gave him a side-eye before walking over to the other female walker, dispatching it.

Shane protested, "Wait… what's that supposed mean?" When Sasha just laughed back at him, he went and ended the male undead while Rick finished off the other one.

When they were done, they turned and observed the room once more before leaving. Michonne flipped a box of fuck toys on the floor, "I hope Rosita found those explosives because I'm burning this place down."

Rick followed her out the room, "No need for that, Councillor. There's enough wood in this place, all we need is a match."

Shane chimed in, "When we're done searching, we'll have a big ole' bonfire."

They head out to the large sitting area where there were glass cases with items on display, "I better find my gun." Rick went searching while Shane went and stood by the door, guarding for intruders. The girls helped by opening the doors, pulling things out and throwing them on the floor.

They didn't have time to be inconspicuous.

Rick's Colt wasn't in any of the cases so he went searching over by large wooden desk. Sitting right there in the corner on a side table, Rick found his Colt Python resting in a brand new, leather holster.

He mumbled to himself, which was caught by Michonne as she sidled up to his right, "Nobody puts Baby in a corner." He picked up the belt and added it to his other utility belt. "And, I'm keepin' this, too." He swapped guns, placing his python in the right holster while moving the Glock to his left.

She put a hand on his shoulder, "I'm sorry, I lost her."

Snaking a hand around her waist, he pulled her closer to give her a brief, soundless kiss, he wouldn't accept an apology from her, "This isn't your fault. That's on the Governor, Lori, Mike, and Randall. Come on, it's getting time to meet up with the rest of the group." He tapped her on the ass and head for the door.

Before they left, they found a box of matches and with the empty cardboard boxes from upstairs, they scattered them around and lit them on fire next to curtains on the first floor. Then they scrambled away and kept a close eye out for any of the Woodbury residents and made their way to the munitions building where everyone agreed to meet after accomplishing their missions.

When they got there, Rosita was carrying a new rifle, Daryl had been able to procure more arrows and Merle stocked up with several hand pistols, shotgun, and a military vest.

Rick asked them, "Have any problems?"

Daryl gave them a report, "Yeah, some chick surprised us when we were inside but Rosita took care of her. Apparently, they knew each other and had fought before. She ain't gone give us no more problems." He went on to brief them about the weapons of Woodbury, "These people were loaded with all kinds of weapons. We got what we needed and blocked off access from anyone else trying to get in. I checked and all the residents seem to be at that event. Rosita found smoke bombs and some TNT. I say we set them up around town and light 'em up to cause a distraction."

Rick agreed, "That's a good plan."

Tyrese and his group hadn't made it back yet and that made his sister worry.

Sasha spoke up, "I need to go get my brother." Shane stood by her side, nodding.

Rick also agreed, "I know and I won't stop you. You and Shane go and find them. The rest of us will start setting up the distraction. When you get them, come find us near the Woodbury people if we're not here."

Before they left on their new mission, Shane and Sasha filled up on ammunition from Woodbury's coffers and took off.

The rest began planting the explosives and smoke bombs. As they quietly crept around the community, Daryl lagged behind after they were placed and lit them up, one by one. They acted quickly and by the time they set the last one down, the first ones began to boom in the air and smoke began blanketing the area.

A limping Glenn came out of the smoke and scurried over to where Rick and Michonne were crouching. Gasping to catch his breath, he warned them, "We were able to rescue Tara and the other women, but we were caught leaving the building. I didn't want to, but Maggie made me leave and find you." He started back where he came from and gestured, "Come on, I know where they're being kept."

He gave a description of the small arena where the rest of the community gathered and having scouted the area beforehand, Merle was able to lead them quickly through the smog to the wide-open area in the back where all the residents and the Governor were holding their event.

When they got there, the place was in a panic. The guards that were protecting the walls had all been dispatched quickly and quietly by Daryl and Merle before without the Governor's knowledge. All he had to protect him now, were the few men that went to the event with him.

However, he knew intruders had invaded his community because, by the time Rick, Michonne, Daryl, Merle, and Rosita found him, he stood holding another sword with his men behind him. Sasha and Shane had tracked them to the arena after having no luck finding Tyrese. When they moved to stand next to Michonne and Rick, they didn't have to look any further.

On their knees in front of the Governor was Maggie, Tyrese, and two other women that Rick had never seen before.

The two groups faced off against each other:

Michonne gripping her sword, two-handed, in front of her.

Rick with his fingers twitching near the Colt's walnut grip.

Shane and Sasha pointing his shotgun and her sniper rifle down toward the ground with their fingers on the trigger.

Glenn, standing in profile, held his pistol in hand.

The rest of the fam held their weapons ready and waiting for anything to pop off.

All the Woodbury residents stopped running about screaming as the smoke started to clear around them. They all watched the showdown commence.

The crackling of the Governor's building on fire could be heard off in the distance and detonated explosions discharging every now and then.

Luckily for the prisoners, they all were unharmed and all of the guards were too busy being paranoid with the blasts happening around them to keep their guns pointed at them.

Standing at the Governor's side was Randall, darting a nervous glance between Michonne, Rick, Shane, and Sasha. There was no getting out of the mess he made this time.

The Governor shouted above the fray, "Now, I don't know why you came and attacked my community and tried to kidnap my people. I have more firepower but since I'm a generous man, I'm sure we can come up with an agreement and let bygones be bygones. I'm willing to let you and your people walk out of here. Just leave Michonne, Sasha, and Maggie with me and then you can be on your way."

Rick's eyebrows rose up almost to his hairline at the audacity of this prick. They all kept quiet as the asshole continued, "You can even take Tara and Karen with you. They don't fit in with my community anyway. I'll keep my people here and you and your people stay over there and we won't ever have to interact." He raised the sword in his hand and held it out to make sure Michonne could see it. "I got this for you, Michonne. I've always admired you and you would do well to take my offer. This sword is so much better than the one you're holding. If you stay, you and your friends will have everything you would ever want."

Michonne'e eyes, shooting fire, only narrowed as her grip on the pommel of her katana tightened.

Rick couldn't hold back his contempt and yelled, _"_That's my wife, you fuck!_"_

* * *

Andrea hid behind Rick and his group. When she awoke from being knocked out earlier, Tara and Karen had already been freed and she and her 2nd in command had to free themselves. When they left from the office where they were tied up, there were no guards around, so she sent the girl to get the weapons from the munitions building. She never came back.

It's when she set off to find Phillip that she heard Rick claiming Michonne as his wife. That son-of-a-bitch went and married some stranger when she was right there and could have been with her.

As far as she was concerned, Rick won't be married for long and neither will Phillip get the woman. There was no way she would allow Michonne to live after seeing two men she wanted put someone else before her. Phillip's constant mentioning of Michonne made more sense now and she'd be damned if she gets pushed to the side again.

She looked around for anything she could use that would do the most damage and found a large, jagged rock. With them arguing with Phillip, Andrea figured this would be the perfect time to sneak up behind and bash in Michonne's skull while they were preoccupied.

* * *

Rick continued talking, unaware Andrea was behind them making plans, "And while I agree, your community and my family can live separately…," he didn't need to say out loud his plan because he knew Shane understood. They'd been in this type of situation before and wasting time talking to men who have no redeeming qualities needed to be dealt with quickly. "There's enough room for all of us." He waved his arm around to display the area beyond their community.

The crowd around them listened tentatively, "Me and my family just want to survive the end of the world. We don't go around kidnapping people to fill up space, like you. We trust each other to protect one another. What you're doin', no one can live peacefully with that."

He gestured to Rosita behind him, "This young lady said you took her from her friends. You took my wife, my friend's wife and my other friend's girlfriend. That's not cool. We are taking all of our friends away from here and if there is anyone that doesn't want to live this way, you are more than welcome to come with us."

Shane spoke up and pointed, "Not you, Randall."

The tension in the air became thicker as Rick continued, "We can all… we can all live together." His voice became deeper and those who didn't know him thought he was going to break with emotion.

But then his tone took on a menacing lilt, "Except you."

Rick and Shane raised their weapons and blasted the Governor in the face and chest. Shocked he'd been shot without warning, the Governor threw his hands up in the air, yelping as he body fell back and crashed onto the ground.

Sasha quickly picked off some of the men around him before they could react to their boss dying. Daryl and Merle taking care of the others.

The last gunshot heard, was from Glenn's Berreta M9. Standing with his side facing the Governor and his men, he raised his arm, aimed and shot Randall directly into his eye socket. "I said the first thing I was gonna do is shoot fuckin' Randall."

As soon as the Governor flew back from the double shots, someone screamed in horror behind them. Michonne's quick reflexes had her sword up and swinging behind her with enough force to decapitate an unhinged Andrea Naise, who didn't think very clearly by screaming and letting the group know she was behind them.

* * *

The morning was creeping in by the time the gang started to head back toward the prison. Before they could leave, Rick and Shane listened to complaints about how the Governor ran things and they were glad he was gone. Most of the Woodbury residents had decided to stay in their homes, thanks to some of the others volunteering to stand up and take charge.

Tara, Rosita, and Karen were the only ones who decided to go back to the prison.

Saying their goodbyes, they went to procure the truck left behind when they first came to Woodbury. When they reached the SUV, things were a bit crowded. The Dixon brothers, too tired to walk all the way back to the prison, wanted to hitch a ride.

Even though there were already extra people, they made it work.

Rick drove with Michonne seated next to him. Shane sat in the front passenger side with Sasha in his lap. In the back, Karen sat on Tyrese, Rosita and Tara sat on Merle and Daryl and Maggie and Glenn cuddled up together back in the cargo trunk.

* * *

Mike and Lori made a little headway in their journey to Woodbury during the night. Not having a map didn't help matters. Lori kept wanting to take pit stops and seemed to keep forgetting they were in a dangerous and precarious position. They were not out camping.

So far, they haven't had a lot of problems with walkers. When they did see one, they went in a different direction. Unfortunately, it threw them off the trail to Woodbury.

At this point, Mike really wasn't sure if they were heading in the right direction, but he found a marker that Randal said he left on a tree, which gave him a little bit of relief.

Just as they moved into a clearing when the morning light began to brighten things up, Lori's complaints about her stiff back seized the attention of a small horde shambling onto their path. When they caught the sight and smell of dusty humans, the walkers picked up their pace and began chasing the two traitors.

Without a thought of where they were heading, they blindly ran screaming into the forest.

* * *

The SUV slowly drifted to a stop and they still had a little ways to get back to the prison. Rick tried turning the engine over and hit the gas pedal several times before putting the truck in park and banged on the console and growled, "Shane I thought you filled the tank up before we left?"

Shane argued, "Don't be yelling at me, Glenn was supposed to do it!"

Glenn shouted from the back, "Hey! Why you puttin' me in it? Nobody told me to put gas in the car."

Rick opened the door and hopped out of it with Michonne following behind, "Well, the tank is empty. We don't have extra gas can and now we have to walk."

Shane pushed open his side and set Sasha on the ground before getting out, "Don't be blaming me, Frick. Did you tell anyone to gas up the truck?"

Rick thought about it then huffed, "No. But I was too busy worrying about Michonne."

"Well, I was worried about Sasha."

Glenn pushed open the hatchback and grumbled, "That's fucked up y'all tried to blame me. I had Maggie to think about."

Rick countered, "But you did pull the truck up to the front before we left."

Glenn was about to complain, then stopped, "Oh, yeah… I did. But it's still not my fault." He stomped off down the road. Maggie laughing and chasing after him, "Come on, baby. They're just teasing you."

Michonne grabbed the back of Rick's belt before he could move away from her, "You know, technically, since you drove, you should have been keeping an eye on the gas tank."

Rick brought her closer to whisper in her ear, "Hey, you're supposed to be on my side."

Shane hopped on the same wagon, "That's right, you tell 'em, sis."

Sasha, chuckling, hitched her gun strap higher on her shoulder and reached for the hem of Shane's sleeve, and pulled him, "Come on. Stay out of grown folks business."

"Hey, I'm grown too and when we get home, I'll show you how grown I am with these Magnums," he patted his backpack. Sasha's tone under her light brown skin flushed red as she hauled him along.

Michonne could only laugh at their antics.

Tara and Rosita gave each other a look, glad they were with people that could joke around with each other. Daryl stood beside them grinning, "Yup, this is our family."

* * *

After an hour of walking, the day had been relatively quiet except for the light conversations between each other in the group.

Michonne sighed, "Rick, we have to deal with Lori and Mike when we get back."

Shane cut in with all seriousness, "I say we take them out back and shoot 'em."

Rick shrugged his shoulders, "I agree, but I have to think about how Carl and Andre would take it. I wouldn't tell them but I'd know. After what happened with the Governor, they can't be trusted. We got away safely this time. What happens if they have the chance to do somethin' like this again?"

Michonne eased the strap of katana on her shoulder as she strolled slowly, "I don't want either one near my sons. I'm with you, Rick. Killing them outright will only bring resentment from the boys when they're older. I say we give them a bag of supplies, a weapon and drop them off far enough away from the prison they would never be able to get back and let nature take its course. If they survive, then so be it."

They became quiet and continued walking until they heard the rumblings of a large vehicle coming toward them. There was a curve in road so they didn't have a visual yet and it was about a mile away.

They all prepared to engage when they finally got a glimpse of who was coming. It wasn't long before they saw a large military cargo truck came into view and was racing toward them.

They were still far enough away where they weren't in danger of being run over, however, they couldn't say that about the two people who suddenly rushed out into the road, screaming bloody murder, with a horde of walkers behind them.

The driver of the cargo truck didn't have enough time to brake before the impact of a 6x6, 2 ½ ton M9 military-grade truck obliterated the two frail, human bodies it smashed into.

Merle said from the back of the group, "Well, guess you all won't have to worry about Mike and Lori now."

They ran to meet the halted truck and a big, muscular dude with shocking red hair jumped down from the driver's side, exclaiming, "Well, I'll be a hairy ball's left nutsack. Did I just run over normal people?"

Rosita ran forward and jumped into the man's arm, tearing up, "Abraham, you found me."

Abe set her down and told them, "Later, darlin'. We don't have time for meets and greets. We gotta kill some swampmeats." He reached into his truck and pulled out a large machete, then ran over to the other side of the truck to kill the walkers that were chasing the two people he just ran over.

Michonne, Rick, Shane, and Sasha still stood there with their eyes wide open in shock. It was Daryl that shook them out of their stupor, "Can we get a little help? These walkers won't kill themselves."

* * *

All of the undead were now truly dead and afterward, everyone introduced themselves.

Michonne stood over the bodies of Mike and Lori, or what was left of them. Merle did them all a favor and gave them a courtesy stab in the skull to keep the mutilated forms from crawling around on the graveled road. Rick came and stood with her, "I can't believe the question was answered for us."

Rick nodded, "Yeah."

Rosita interrupted them, "Rick, Abe has a proposal to ask you."

He turned and saw Abraham and Eugene standing behind her. In his overloud and boisterous voice, Abe asked, "How would you like to be responsible for saving the world?"

Shane, Sasha and the rest couldn't help but hear him so they came over to stand by Rick and Michonne. Rick asked, "How so?"

Abe slaps a hand on a somewhat nervous looking Eugene, "My swayback 80's lookin' friend here, Euguene is a scientist from Texas. I was on my way North when I ran into him. He has information on how to stop this plague. You and your people can travel with us to Washington and we'll be the heroes of this shindig." He shook the man, "Tell 'em what you told me."

The heavyset man with the Billy Ray short-do cleared his throat. Michonne noticed the beads of sweat rolling down to his collar and it reminded her how some witnesses acted when they were put on the stand.

He unbuttoned his top button and cleared his throat again, "Well, most of it is classified."

Michonne folded her arms.

"I can only tell you that there are certain factors that have to be met. We have to measure the density of the infected around targeted sites worldwide.

Confused, Glenn asked him, "What do you mean targeted sites? You talkin' about missiles?"

Seemingly more sure of himself, "That's classified."

Michonne, skeptical with her arms still folded, "Please continue, Eugene. What part is unclassified that you can disclose?"

Rocking on his feet, Eugene nodded and spoke in a monotone voice, "The speed with which things normalize depends on a number of factors, including worldwide weather patterns which were modeled without the assumption that cars, planes, boats, and trains wouldn't be pouring hydrocarbons into the atmosphere this long. Changed the game quite a bit when it comes to air-transmissible pathogens. I was part of the ten-man team of the Human Genome Project. Otherwise known as the HGP."

He looked to everyone as to assure that they got what he was saying.

Rick rubbed his fingers over his lip.

Shane had his head cocked in question.

Sasha lowered her hand to her sheathed knife tied to her thigh.

The rest wore total blanks on their faces except or Abe and Rosita who were eagerly smiling for everyone to get on board.

He continued, "We weaponized diseases to fight weaponized diseases. Pathogenic microorganisms with pathogenic microorganisms," He gave them a pointed look to make sure they got his meaning. "Fire with fire. Interdepartmental drinks were had, relationships made, information shared. I am keenly aware of all the details behind fail-safe delivery systems to kill every living person on this planet. I believe with a little tweaking on the terminals in DC, we can flip the script. Take out every last dead one of them. Fire with fire."

A look of pride fell over his features when he finished his speech.

Everyone still had the blank look and the only one to speak up was Michonne. She slowly unleashed her sword and strolled over until she stood directly in front of the patronizing scientist.

The tip of the katana pointed up toward his esophagus, "Eugene, what you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Every one on this road is now dumber for having listened to it."

All her family behind her protested, "Hey!

Rick could only laugh.

Eugene straightened his collar again, "Ma'am, I don't think you understand…"

Michonne raised the tip higher, "Oh, I understand alright. You used big words that said nothing. Why don't you tell Rosita and Abe the truth before you get someone killed with your lies." She stepped back.

Eugene began sweating profusely with everyone's focus on him.

He swallowed and dropped his head, "I'm sorry, Abe. She's right." He asked her, "You were a lawyer weren't you?"

Michonne grinned, "Yes, I was."

Dropping his head in shame, Eugene confessed, "Figures... Abraham, I wasn't telling the truth about the cure. I needed an excuse for you to take me with you and for you to protect me, but I wasn't lying when I told you the truth about Washington being a safe haven for survivors."

Abraham, already pink from standing in the sun, became even redder when he hauled off and punched Eugene dead in the face, knocking him out flat.

Merle told his brother, "This has been an interesting week."

Shane grabbed Abe to keep him from beating up on a comatose Eugene while Maggie and Glenn checked to make sure he was alive.

Rick checked his watch, "Okay, while this has been enlightening, we need to get off the road and get home. Abe, I know you're upset but can you give us a ride back to the prison? It's safer than being out here in the open and we can calmly discuss what you wanna do next. It's not far from here so you won't be taken too much much out of your way."

Sasha had an arm around an upset Rosita when Abe told Shane he was calm and wouldn't kill the man, "No problem. Looks like I really have nowhere to go anyway."

* * *

**_Epilogue-2 month's later…_**

The new additions to the prison family fit right in. More construction was completed to secure and fortify the prison against walkers and human enemies. The residents of Woodbury kept their word and stayed away from Rick and his family.

The boys were told the truth about Lori and Mike being released to live on their own and were accidentally ran over by a big truck. They made the trip out to where they lay at rest. Rick and Michonne made sure they were buried a little ways away from the road and two large wooden crosses marked their graves. Andre and Carl shed tears and took it as this was now their world.

No one was guaranteed to live.

Unfortunately for their biological parents, it was their time to punch in.

* * *

The morning after they returned from their graves, Michonne woke up early feeling queasy. She couldn't even make it to the bathroom, and puked on the side of the bed, her dinner from the previous evening. Rick sat up quickly and held back her hair and rubbed her back. He grabbed the end of the blanket and wiped her mouth when she was finished.

Thinking that he was being a helpful husband, he grinned, "Must have eaten somethin' bad last night, huh?"

Michonne grabbed the blanket and threw it over the mess she made and turned to Rick with her eyes narrowed and her mouth tightened in a grimace, "No, this is you not being able to pay attention. We got the condoms too late."

Rick sat up straight, his eyes darting left and right, "Huh? Whaddya mean, too late?"

She raised a hand and pushed her fingers through the curls at the back of his head, hoping to quell the panic that was starting to overtake his face, "We're pregnant, Rick. Congratulations, you're gonna be a father for the third time."

**THE END**

**A/N: Thank you all so much for staying with me and the conclusion of my version of Richonne and my attempt to redeem Shane Walsh. I am so grateful and so happy you found this entertaining. I enjoyed all of your comments, reviews, thoughts and you sharing on other platforms.**

**The new season is about to begin next month and I pray it gives off more awesome memories to commemorate in the future and give Danai Gurira a proper and unique goodbye for her last season. **

**You might recognize the quote from Dirty Dancing. It felt right for Rick to say it, lol.**

**Thanks to Billy Madison. I've had always wanted an excuse to use that quote and Eugene was the perfect person who deserved it. **

**For my last chapter, please let me know your thoughts about how Phillip, Andrea, Mike, and Lori were handled.**

**Too much, too little? Did the deserve more? Did they deserve it at all?**

**Love you all and have a great weekend.**


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